From 'Dead Economy' Jibe To 'Ceasefire' Claims, A Look At Trump's Falsehoods Targeting India
These remarks by US President Donald Trump reveal a disturbing trend aimed at promoting a rhetoric divorced from reality and, at times, undermining India's sovereign decisions
American President Donald Trump's treasure trove of statements on India only keeps growing — from the most recent 'ceasefire" claim to his 'dead economy" remark. Often repeated by him on various global and social media platforms, most of these tend to be either inaccurate or unverified.
But they do, however, reveal a disturbing trend of falsehoods to promote a rhetoric divorced from reality and, at times, undermining India's global standing and sovereign decisions.
In wake of his latest announcement of 50 percent tariff on India, an analysis of his statements about the country – whether it is about the high tariffs against the US or the purchase of Russian oil – can throw light on his misinformed claims that exaggerate his role in regional diplomacy or simply disregard facts and India's official stance.
Here is a simple fact check:
'INDIA IS A DEAD ECONOMY'
This is another oft-repeated claim by Trump, often linking his diplomatic efforts to trade pressure. 'We've been very successful in settling wars. You have India, (and) Pakistan… India, by the way, Pakistan would have been a nuclear war within another week the way that was going. That was going very badly, and we did that through trade. I said we're not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled, and they did, and they were both great, great leaders, and they were great," he had said.
India has firmly denied any US mediation stating that the ceasefire was a bilateral arrangement, initiated through existing military channels and not via external involvement.
'No world leader had asked India to stop the Operation Sindoor," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament, while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: 'I want to make two things very clear…one, at no stage, in any conversation with the United States, was there any linkage with trade and what was going on. Secondly, there was no talk between the Prime Minister and President Trump from the 22nd of April when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy, and the 17th of June, when he called up the Prime Minister in Canada to explain why he could not meet."
'INDIA STOPPED BUYING RUSSIAN OIL'
India denied any such claim made by Trump that it had, in fact, stopped buying Russian oil. 'Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens," he had said, just a few days before he imposed additional tariffs on India for the very same reason.
'INDIA IS TARIFF KING'
Trump has labelled India as the 'tariff king" and an 'abuser" of trade duties, suggesting the country unfairly protects its markets through high customs duties.
But data shows that India's simple average tariff, which comprises levies on both agriculture and non-agriculture products, is around 16 percent. This is in the same league as Bangladesh (14.1%), Turkey (16.2%) and Argentina (13.4%). India's weighted average tariff, however, is only around 4.6 percent.
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