Govt caught napping, seems under US pressure to sacrifice Indian interests: Sachin Pilot on tariffs

Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have worked out a constructive solution during his last America visit rather than just indulging in «photo ops» and exchanging gifts. He said that at a time the world is responding to the imposition of reciprocal tariffs by the US, the Indian government is merely buying time and leaving everything to fate.
In an interview to PTI, the former minister for Corporate Affairs said the Indian government is accepting what has been given out and has not even offered a response.
«I would imagine, when the PM was in Washington (in February) and met the president of the US, instead of just photo ops and exchanging gifts, something more constructive should have come out of it,» Pilot said.
«If our relations are as strong as the two leaders claim, then we would not have been slapped with these steep tariffs. Clearly our exports will be severely hit, manufacturing was in any way on a downside, MSMEs are in for a shock...The economy will face severe stress due to resulting layoffs and job losses but unfortunately we have not had an adequate response or even an indication of how to navigate this situation.» he said.
The government was caught napping and it seems under US pressure to sacrifice Indian interests, he alleged.

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Pilot pointed out that many European countries have responded strongly and in fact, China will legally take action against the US in the WTO.
While European countries have spoken of similar tariffs, Canada and Mexico have also indicated reciprocal imposition of higher counter tariffs but «we have not responded yet», Pilot said.
«So one does not know what the government intends to do but one thing is clear