Sep 03, 2025 12:00 am IST, New Delhi
India, troubled by Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariff on Indian exports to America, should remember Abdul Kalam, who after the second Pokhran nuclear test had told Vajpayee’s PMO to somehow make this ban last for 10 years.
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There is a serious possibility that America’s opinionated President Donald Trump will have a deep impact on many business sectors of India due to the imposition of total 50 percent duty (tariff) on exports from India in two installments. Narendra Modi government is busy searching for another market (country) for these sectors. But people upset with Trump’s tariffs should remember one thing from former President APG Abdul Kalam Azad. Then, in a meeting going on in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after the second nuclear test in Pokhran, Kalam had told the people present there that if somehow America’s ban is extended for 10 years, then India will stand on its feet.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue, journalist and economist Swaminathan Gurumurthy, during a recent event, quoted Kalam’s words during a meeting in the PMO regarding US sanctions imposed after the nuclear tests in 1998. The director of the Reserve Bank of India, popularly known as S. Gurumurthy, told that Kalam, who was then the scientific advisor to the Prime Minister, told him in the meeting – “Mr. Gurumurthy, somehow make it so that the embargo continues for the next 10 years. Otherwise, we will not think about ourselves. We are importing thinking. We are importing equipment. We are importing ideas. We are importing everything.”
Referring to another meeting in the Finance Ministry on the same issue, Gurumurthy said that he heard the then Finance Secretary saying that this government had ruined the country. He said – “Everyone was silent. No one knew what to do. Only one man, NK Singh, came forward and said that this (nuclear testing) has created a huge sense of nationalism and cultural civilization among the Indian citizens settled all over the world. This is the starting point of recovery. We should issue India Development Bond of 5 billion dollars. 5 billion dollars then is 100 billion dollars today. … We got 6.20 billion dollars.”
Prime Minister Modi has appealed to more than 140 crore people of the country to adopt Swadeshi, which can become the foundation of self-reliant India. The business class is protesting against Trump’s tariffs on the streets of India. Traders are demanding the government to impose retaliatory tariffs on goods coming from America and are appealing to the people of the country to boycott the goods of American companies.
Let us tell you that Trump has linked India’s purchase of crude oil from Russia, which is facing various US sanctions, to the Ukraine war and has imposed 25 percent tariff on India from August 7, 2025 and then 25 percent from August 27 and a total of 50 percent. Trump’s tariffs are likely to impact India’s sectors like textiles, gems, jewellery, footwear, leather, chemicals, lobster etc. It is estimated that if this tariff continues for one year and an alternative market is not found, then the employment of about 20 lakh people in India may be at risk. There may be a reduction of half to quarter percent in GDP growth.
Trump’s loudness and haste are also affecting the trade talks between India and America. Diplomatically and strategically, India seems to be leaning towards China, which is sure to increase America’s uneasiness. However, the US court has declared Trump’s tariffs illegal and given him some time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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