Amidst renewed threats of tariffs from former US President Donald Trump, Congress leader Manish Tewari has invoked the spirit of the 1971 war to signal India's resilience and strategic autonomy. Tewari's response comes after Trump's announcement of a potential 25% tariff, plus an unspecified penalty on India.
Tewari's statement can be viewed as a commentary on India's long-standing foreign policy principles. He argues that Trump's tariff threat is, paradoxically, "perhaps the biggest tribute to Indian strategic exceptionalism". Tewari traces this exceptionalism back to Jawaharlal Nehru's policy of non-alignment, through Indira Gandhi's emphasis on self-reliance, and to the present-day "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiative. He suggests that these policies have provided India with the flexibility to engage with the world on its own terms, always prioritizing its national interests.
The Congress MP expressed confidence that Trump's tariff threats would not significantly impact India's strategic autonomy, which he believes has been cultivated over decades through diverse alliances. He stated that such threats would not really make a difference to the strategic autonomy that India has built over the decades. However, he cautioned that it could potentially damage the broader Indo-US relationship.
Tewari's remarks stand in contrast to some other reactions within his own party. Jairam Ramesh, another Congress leader, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rapport with Trump, suggesting that it yielded little benefit in the face of these tariff threats. Ramesh pointed to instances where Trump appeared to slight India, such as claims of halting Operation Sindoor and hosting a special lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief shortly after the Pahalgam terror attacks.
Furthermore, Tewari has recently been in the news for other reasons. He has criticized the government's decision to privatize Air India and transfer its ownership to the Tata Group, calling it a "disaster". He lamented the cancellations and delays by the airline and claimed that these were happening without any explanations being offered by the airline. He also remarked that people who grow tea, make steel and make cars are running Air India and labelled the airline as a complete management mess.
