India will not bow down to American pressure despite US President Donald Trump announcing the introduction of 25 percent tariffs on the world's largest democratic state, a BJP politician has said.
"Let's be clear—India is not a pushover. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has risen as a global economic and strategic power. We make decisions based on national interest, not external pressure. Our defence ties with Russia are historic and strategic, not ideological. As for tariffs, India protects its domestic industries just like the US does," Savio Rodrigues, who currently serves in the BJP's Goa unit, told Sputnik India.
"A tariff war doesn't help either nation. True friends talk, not threaten. We remain committed to strong Indo-US relations, but not at the cost of being lectured. India First is as non-negotiable to us as America First is to Trump," he emphasised.
Rodrigues' remarks came in the aftermath of Trump's social media post, where he declared that India has "the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country."
While he termed India a "friend", Trump underlined that India will not only have to pay a 25 percent tariff in trade-related affairs associated with the US, but the South Asian country will have to pay an additional penalty due to its economic ties with Russia.
"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," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
India has yet to make an official comment about Trump's imposition of tariffs on the country.