“The Indian economy is doing very well and is contributing more to global growth than the US,” said Sanjay Malhotra, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), hitting out against US President Donald Trump, who recently called the Indian economy ‘dead’. Addressing the media at the RBI’s headquarter in Delhi, Malhotra also said that India with its supposedly ‘dead’ economy contributing more to global growth at this point than the United States.

“We are contributing about 18%, which is more than the US where the contribution is expected to be much less – about 11% or something. We are doing very well and we will continue to improve further,” the RBI governor said.

He added India is expected to grow 6.5%, as against the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) estimate of about 3% global growth in 2025.

Malhotra noted that India has historically grown at an average annual growth rate of 7.8% and that the country’s aspirational growth rate should be higher than the 6.5% the RBI projected for FY25.

Addressing the tariff threats by Donald Trump over India buying Russian oil, the RBI governor said, “We don’t see a major impact of US tariffs on the Indian economy unless there is a retaliatory tariff. We are hopeful that we will have an amicable solution.”

The RBI governor’s strong statement schooling Trump over his skewed understanding of a ‘dead economy’, comes after the US President published a post on Truth Social on 1st August, , where he not only mocked India’s economy but also questioned its trade practices.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump posted, taking a jibe at both New Delhi and Moscow. He complained about India imposing “the highest tariffs in the world” and blamed it for the low trade volume between the two countries.

Before this, Trump had announced new trade penalties on India, including a 25 per cent tariff on almost all Indian imports, effective from 1st August. Trump also expressed his frustration over India being a top buyer of Russian military equipment and energy.

Taking to Truth Social, Donald Trump posted on 30th July, “Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country. Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE – ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST 1st. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!”

In addition to imposing a 25 per cent tariff and calling India’s economy ‘dead’, Trump has issued a fresh threat of imposing a ‘substantial tariff’ on India for “fuelling the Russian war machine.”

Rahul Gandhi endorsed Trump’s ‘dead economy’ jibe, even as numbers tell India’s economic game is strong

While Indian social media welcomed Trump’s tariffs with hilarious memes, market responded with strong NIFTY and SENSEX points, government reiterated that it will always prioritise national interest and not succumb to any pressure, PM Modi indirectly responded with giving the mantra of “Swadeshi” to Indian people, a section of the political opposition gleefully cheered when Trump made his irresponsible, outrageous and divorced-from-reality remarks.

In this vein, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition (LoP), shamelessly endorsed Trump’s unwarranted criticism of India’s economy. Days after provoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha to publicly refute Trump’s claim of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire during Operation Sindoor, Gandhi said he was “glad” the US President had “stated a fact” by calling the Indian economy “dead.”

“Yes, he is right. Everybody knows this except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. The Indian economy is dead. I’m glad President Trump has stated a fact… BJP has finished the economy to help Adani,” Gandhi told the media on 31st July.

Last month, Rahul Gandhi stood up in the Lok Sabha to speak on Operation Sindoor. Displaying sheer lack of respect for Indian sovereignty, and understanding for foreign policy and diplomacy, Gandhi dared PM Modi to call former U.S. President Donald Trump a “liar” on the floor of Parliament. Just to score political points against the BJP-led government, the Congress leader laid a trap to solicit an emotional, probably aggressive response from PM Modi against Trump and his ‘I stopped India-Pakistan war’ rhetoric.

Despite the backlash, the Congress leader is behaving like a foreign agent, more so a stooge, and is provoking Donald Trump to use the ‘Adani Card’ against India.

“India, please understand: The reason PM Modi cannot stand up to President Trump despite his repeated threats is the ongoing U.S. investigation into Adani. One threat is to expose the financial links between Modi, AA, and Russian oil deals. Modi’s hands are tied,” Gandhi wrote on X on 6th August.

Not to forget, Rahul Gandhi has for long been pushing a baseless narrative linking PM Modi and businessman Gautam Adani, alleging a nexus of corruption. After the Hindenburg report came out in 2023, Rahul Gandhi used the report to attack Prime Minister Modi by alleging that he gave undue favours to the company. The now-defunct US-based short-seller had published another hit job against Adani Group; however, an expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court found no regulatory failure. The court refused to order an SIT probe on the allegations made by short-seller Hindenburg.

In March last year, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York decided to investigate whether the conglomerate, along with its founder Gautam Adani, may have engaged in bribery.

Now despite, there being no proven illegal activity on the part of Adani Group or there being any involvement of PM Modi in these matters, Rahul Gandhi has once again proved himself a useful idiot, by provoking Trump to use the Adani card. Gandhi is instigating Trump to ‘expose’ supposed financial links between Modi, Adani, and Russian oil, even as it essentially amounts inviting foreign interference in India’s domestic policy.

Apparently, the Gandhi scion is resorting to desperate, even near-treasonous measures to secure a political comeback after suffering back-to-back defeats in general and many state elections since 2014.

Rahul Gandhi is aiding Trump’s pressure tactics against India, which refused to bow down to sign a half-baked trade deal that heavily favours American interests and undermines Indian interests. Negotiations were ongoing, and a waiver could have been on the cards had India agreed to allow unrestricted access to U.S. agricultural products and dilute its protective framework for domestic industries. India, however, upholding its interests, did not.

Trump’s tirade against India comes at a time when the two countries are negotiating a major trade deal. A deal that Trump has repeatedly claimed to have been the reason why India halted Operation Sindoor in May in the aftermath of a Pakistan-backed jihadist terror attack in Pahalgam in April this year.

Ironically, Trump never forgets to call India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi his and the USA’s ‘friend’ every time he hyphenates India, the world’s fourth-largest economy, one of the fastest-growing economies and the failed state of Pakistan, the ‘Islamic republic, which literally breathes on an IMF loan ventilator. Trump makes tall claims of using trade deals as leverage to stop the India-Pakistan conflict; however, the loudmouth US President has failed to strike a deal with India till now.

Probably, India’s loud and clear statement that no foreign leader, not even the self-declared ‘ceasefire specialist’, mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan, has irked Trump, reflecting in his sudden tariff and ‘penalty’ imposition against his ‘friend’ India.

In fact, a lack of a Indo-US trade deal to this day, not only confirms that no such offer by the US President played any role in India-Pakistan arriving at ceasefire understanding, but also that Trump had no say in India deciding to heed Pakistan’s desperate plea to halt Operation Sindoor.

While Trump boasts of being a decisive peacemaker in the Indo-Pak conflict and leveraging the prospect of a trade deal, if trade alone could stop wars, his trade offers would have ended the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Despite Trump’s earlier claims of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict within hours, the two countries continue to fight, reducing his boastful statements to a joke.

Now, probably, to deflect attention from his own failure to halt the Russia-Ukraine war with ‘trade’, Trump is targeting India with his senseless rhetoric, tariffs and penalties.

Trump vilifies India for having trade ties with Russia, but claims to not even know that US continues to import non-essential items from Russia: Is India trading with ‘bad Putin’ and US with ‘good Putin’?

President Trump’s delusion and hypocrisy stretch beyond measure when he makes the audacious attempt at ‘punishing’ India with tariffs and penalties for trade ties with Russia, while the US itself continues to do trade with the country.

While the US may have cut its Russian crude oil imports from Russia due to sanctions, it continues to trade with Russia in various sectors. Even three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States has not fully cut off its trade ties with Moscow. The US has imported more than $24.5 billion worth of Russian goods since January 2022. This year alone, it bought $1.27 billion worth of fertilisers, $624 million in uranium and plutonium, and nearly $878 million in palladium.

Import of non-ferrous metals such as palladium and aluminium were valued at $876.5 million for the period January to November in 2024. Inorganic chemicals made up $683 million, followed by power-generating machinery at $79 million and cork and wood manufacturers at approximately $64 million.

Other commodities included nuclear reactors and machinery worth $80.81 million, prepared animal feed, iron and steel, and oil seeds, although these contributed smaller shares to the overall imports.

The US government’s own data indicates that U.S. exports in goods to Russia fell to $528.3 million in 2024, while imports were worth an amount phenomenally higher. In the year 2023,  the U.S. exports to Russia stood at around $598.8 million. Despite Russia enjoying a massive surplus and being involved in war with Ukraine, there was never really a hiatus in the Russia-US trade.

Ironically, while Trump is upset with India for its trade ties with Russia, he claims not to even be aware of the massive trade partnership the US continues to have with Russia. Trump said that he didn’t know the United States was still doing business with Russia, even as he criticised India for continuing to import oil from Russia.

“I don’t know anything about it. We will have to check it out, and we will get back to you,” he told an ANI reporter on 5th August during a media interaction.

Either Trump is actually unaware of the trading ties and the scale of the same his country has with Russia, or he is embarrassed to admit, while he accuses India of ‘fuelling’, what he calls Russian ‘war machine’, it is the US doing the same. In fact, the US, on one hand, is fuelling the Russian war on Ukraine by continuing trade with Kremlin, on the other, it is fuelling Ukrainian war on Russia, by providing military and financial aid to Kyiv.

Trump’s hypocrisy has been called out by the Indian government as well. In a strong statement, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs pointed out that India started importing oil from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. At that time, the United States actively encouraged such imports from India for strengthening the stability of global energy markets. The MEA also gave the statistics of the trading ties the United States and the European Union continue to have with Russia, while NATO backs Ukraine.

India’s statement not only received global praise, but also backing from Russia, which called Trump’s tariff threats “illegal”.

In contrast to Donald Trump’s ‘dead economy’ rhetoric, global financial assessments paint a far more resilient picture of India’s economy. According to the latest report by Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee, India is expected to remain the fastest-growing economy in its global coverage. The report forecasts India’s real GDP growth at 5.9% in 2025 and 6.4% in 2026, far ahead of the US (1.0%) and China (4.0%).

“India remains the fastest growing economy in our coverage,” the committee noted, highlighting the country’s robust domestic demand, structural reforms, and investment momentum. In fact, while the global economy is projected to slow down, from 3.5% in 2024 to just 2.5% in 2025, India is expected to outperform significantly.

While Trump may satisfy his ego by calling Indian economy ‘dead’, levy tariffs and penalties, receive indirect support from a section of India’s political opposition acting like the fifth column, Indian economy continues to grow, India continues to uphold its national interests, maintain ties with its allies, and not submit to the whims of a hypocrite and full of himself bully.

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