India’s response to U.S. has been uncompromising: Sanjeev Sanyal

India’s response to the U.S. actions has been restrained but has not compromised on the country’s interests even though other countries have bent before the U.S. demands, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal said.

Speaking at the Aravalli Summit organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) School of International Studies, to celebrate its 70th anniversary, Mr. Sanyal said the established powers in the world would not automatically create “space” for India as it grows in power and influence.

Addressing the Summit, Director of The Hindu Group, Malini Parthasarathy, said that the rise of “aggressive American protectionism” was one of the many challenges to India’s emergence, along with unresolved conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Palestine. 

“Our rise in the world will have implications for us and for others,” Mr. Sanyal said. “At no point has a rising power been given the space. They have had to make that space in various ways. Nobody is going to give us space as we grow.”

It is, therefore, essential for India to stand its ground when its interests are concerned, and an example of this is how it has dealt with the tariff pressure from the U.S. The U.S. has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on India, and an additional 25% tariff as a ‘penalty’ for its oil imports from Russia. This takes the total tariff on imports from India to 50%.

“This is a good example of how we in India have been dealing with this [the situation of established powers not giving us space],” Mr. Sanyal explained. “Even when there are close advisors to the U.S. President who make snide remarks and sometimes what could be deemed as racist remarks against India, we have in general been quite restrained.”

However, he pointed out that India’s restraint is not a sign of it backing down. “In this, our behaviour has been quite different from what many of the other large countries around the world have done under pressure,” Mr. Sanyal said. “Whether it is the EU or Japan or many other countries, they have essentially bent backwards in front of the U.S. We have been holding steady.” 

He explained that India’s current strategy is to not escalate matters, but at the same time also not to bend if it is asking for a “reasonable thing”.

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“And this is something we have to get used to doing, because if we develop the reputation of somebody who backs down at every step, then let me say there are many other things on which we will be made to back down,” Mr. Sanyal said.

Ms. Parthasarathy said the hostile moves against India by the U.S., including the restriction of H-1B visas, the tariffs on Indian products and the “provocative hyphenation of India and Pakistan” by U.S. President Donald Trump “have been deeply unsettling”.

“The Jaishankar-Modi doctrine, as it is being called, unveils a new policy approach of multi-alignment and strategic autonomy to navigate a multipolar world,” Ms. Parthasarathy said, suggesting that inculcating a sense of “self-belief”, wielding India’s soft power, and building stronger ties in South Asia are amongst a number of ways for India to fulfil its potential as a global power.

On Monday, addressing the Summit, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that India had consistently exerted strategic autonomy, and must be seen as a “go to option” for its neighbours when in need.

Also speaking at the event were Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of the School of International Studies, and former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit.