Key Points

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor asserted that India was being dealt "unfairly" when it came to the imposition of tariffs.

"The unfairness of this has definitely created a very strong backlash in India, and the accompanying insults, both by Trump's own language in his statements and tweets. Subsequently, the extremely offensive statements by his advisor (Peter) Navarro have gotten a backlash across the country. If there's no particular problem in a relationship of 30 years, which has been getting toward greater closeness, why would you use this kind of language about India? This was not at all appreciated," the Congress MP said.

Taking a swipe at the US president, Tharoor stated that Trump thinks of tariffs as "magic instruments" that could solve multiple problems, such as reducing the deficit in his country and furthering his political agenda.

Tharoor asserted that Trump intended to engage with his political base, where American manufacturers employ American workers to accelerate the manufacturing process. He said, "The US president intends to make imported items more expensive by levying tariffs to push the American manufacturers to start doing things in America."

"What went wrong to begin with is that Trump has this idea that tariffs are the magic instruments to solve a number of his problems. He feels that too many things that were manufactured in America are now being imported. He wants to make that more expensive so that the American manufacturer will start doing things more in America and employ American workers, who are his base (the MEGA constituency, as it is called)," the Congress MP said.

Earlier, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro had taken a strident position justifying Donald Trump's decision to levy a 50 per cent tariff on imports from India by making a "caste-based remark" on the issue and accusing the Brahmins of the country of "profiteering at the expense of the Indian people."

Referring to India as "nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin", Navarro, during an interview with Fox News, accused New Delhi of enabling trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that run counter to US interests. He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy approach while calling him a "great leader", suggesting that India's engagement with Russia and China undermines its status as the world's largest democracy.

- ANI