अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रंप के भारत पर 25% टैरिफ लगाने के फैसले पर पूर्व अमेरिकी वाणिज्य विभाग के अधिकारी रे विकरी ने कड़ी प्रतिक्रिया दी। उन्होंने कहा: ये ट्रंप की पुरानी रणनीति है कि पहले दबाव और अफरातफरी पैदा करो और फिर खुद को समाधानकर्ता दिखाओ। भारत को अपने हितों पर ध्यान देना होगा, खासकर रूस से संबंध और तेल आयात को लेकर।
00:00This is typical Trump trying to create as much pressure and chaos on a bilateral basis as possible
00:14so that he can, in the end, claim victory by solving or at least ameliorating the problem which he's created.
00:26What is going on here is a continued negotiation tactic.
00:32There should be saner heads on both the U.S. and Indian side.
00:38For talking to ANI, firstly, your impression or your reaction to President Trump's announcement this morning,
00:47what do you make of it, 25% tariffs on India plus penalties?
00:54Well, thanks very much for having me.
00:56It's always a pleasure to talk with ANI.
00:58I think this is typical Trump trying to create as much pressure and chaos on a bilateral basis as possible
01:14so that he can, in the end, claim victory by solving or at least ameliorating the problem which he's created.
01:26The basic difficulty is the abandonment by President Trump of the multilateral approach to international trade
01:37as embodied since World War II, first in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and then in the WTO.
01:46That having been said, it seems to me that what is going on here is a continued negotiation tactic.
01:58You will recall that when Prime Minister Modi was in Washington back in the early days of this Trump administration,
02:10the timetable which had been set was the fall.
02:14And of course, Trump has moved up a lot of the negotiations and is trying to get this one closed as well.
02:25So I think that there is no need to panic and I think that there should be saner heads on both the U.S. and Indian side
02:38that can come to an agreement.
02:40You may recall again that in Trump, the first Trump administration, we were almost to something resembling at least a freer trade agreement.
02:55And I still hold out hopes for that.
02:59That having been said, there are a couple of new elements in this.
03:06One is that he has, for the first time, introduced the Russian aspect of the equation.
03:20You may recall that he said he was going to solve the Russian invasion of Ukraine on day one.
03:30And that hasn't occurred.
03:32It's finally gotten through to him that Putin is not his friend and that he isn't going to respond to anything other than pressure.
03:43So India is going to need to think about what its interests are in regard to Russia and the question of oil imports.
03:55I don't think that the attitude that India bears no interest or has no responsibility in regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine should hold.
04:11But that's up to India.
04:13The values which are in the United Nations charter of non-aggression, non-invasion have been breached by Russia.
04:21This is the most egregious breach of principles against imperialism that's occurred since World War II.
04:31India has led the fight against imperialism for a long, long time.
04:39And it will need to think about what its interests are.
04:44There's plenty of oil in the world.
04:47The question is just really what the price of it is.
04:50India has gotten some break on that, but it really hasn't been as significant as some people say.
04:58The other point is that India is going to need to take further consideration about what its interests are in further opening its economy to international competition.
05:13When India was first independent, the emphasis was all on protecting infant industry, trying to get away from economic imperialism.
05:27That mindset may no longer apply because India has grown in strength.
05:35It has had tremendous economic strides.
05:40And it needs to think about what's in its interest in terms of opening to further competition.
05:48The old ways of thinking about the Indian national interest as being one of trying to separate itself from Western imperialism are really not applicable.
06:07The major challenges to India now in security come from China.
06:13The major challenges in economy have to do with whether or not it will be a source of innovation and competition throughout the world.
06:27So these things are up to India, but I think that it's very unfortunate that President Trump is taking this completely transactional, bilateral approach as opposed to one which has stood the world in good stead since World War II.
06:52And is one which India should be a leader in.
06:57I would say I think there's opportunity here for India.
07:01India, the world needs leadership.
07:03It doesn't have it with Donald Trump.
07:06Donald Trump is a my way or the highway sort of guy.
07:10And in the medium to long run, that isn't going to work.
07:14But India is a past master in many ways of being able to work with others.
07:21And it should step forward as one of the world's leading democracies to fill the void which has been created by President Trump.
07:32Well, if you talk about, you know, the play out in terms of the deal, you know, since three weeks, we've been hearing from the president that a deal would be out sometime soon.
07:42So what really has played out in these three weeks?
07:46Do you have something to share at this point?
07:49Well, I think the major sticking point has been in regard to agriculture.
07:55It seems to me that that's a very politically salient issue for good reason in India.
08:06It seems to me that the Modi administration understands the need for greater opening in regard to agriculture.
08:17But it is just not in the cards to be able to simply abandon the kinds of protection that small farmers particularly need now.
08:31But I don't think that that is an insurmountable problem.
08:36And I do think that there are steps which can be taken from the Indian side in other areas to make up for that.
08:48And apparently one of those is now in regard to stepping forward and doing what India has talked about in the past in regard to Ukraine, Russia, and providing leadership in the international security area.
09:07In terms of the president's criticism of India relying on Russia in terms of the energy, is this really a shift of the U.S.-India strategic partnership?
09:18Well, I think that the shift came when Russia invaded Ukraine, and in order to provide the wherewithal to continue this sort of imperialistic venture,
09:36venture, it cut prices to India and to others, particularly to China, in order to keep the revenue flowing.
09:48But India can take measures with many other sources in regard to oil.
09:58And I believe that it is true that India needs to reevaluate its leadership position as a great democracy.
10:11And as far as I can see, the values which are expressed by authoritarian regimes are not those of India, but it is up to India to decide in the longer run where its interest in being a world leader lie.
10:41In a world leader is not those of India, which is a big, what are the new, what are the new, what are the new, what are the new
