India has to build its strength to sail tariff waters

I have always wondered what makes our society forget the lessons learnt during trying times. Those hurt by Trump’s tariff tantrums should remember the deadly days of the covid-19 pandemic. The US, along with rich nations, erected regulatory walls to hoard drugs and vaccines for their citizens.

It’s the same US that gave the clarion call for the world being a “global village" on the lines of India’s Vasudhaiv Kutumbkum (the whole world is a family), though with questionable intent. While our forefathers were moved by the altruistic vision of sharing with the world, US president Bill Clinton, who popularised “global village", was focused on maximising his country’s profits.

The reality of the global village unravelled during the pandemic. Trump mocked covid’s very existence and flung his mask in a show of defiance. However, when cemeteries started filling up, he labelled it a “Chinese pandemic". He ordered reserving four vaccines per US citizen. No one knows how much it helped, but the pandemic wiped off many “villages" from the “globe".

In those days, a debate raged in India over becoming self-reliant. Initial euphoria resulted in some positive initiatives, but as the threat subsided, we reverted to complacency. Many who lost jobs moved to small towns, started on their own and never returned. They improved local business landscapes. Governments were happy with the hockey-stick recovery. Their approach towards promising policies like “One district, one product" slackened. Had governments pursued them with focus, they would have acted as a buffer against today’s uncertainties.

I’m confident a respectable trade deal will be struck with the US. Trade is not a one-way street. India must balance its policies and its workforce’s aspirations. Five years ago, we faced a pandemic; today we see one man’s eccentricities and a temporary crisis. If a new global economic order is emerging, why should we delay embracing it? India’s Green Revolution took root due to US president Lyndon Johnson’s intransigence. We should now unleash an “MSME revolution". It can make us truly self-reliant. It creates jobs and lifts local consumption. We shouldn’t abandon India Inc. either. Corporations that have dominated globally should carry on with their good work. We also need to ink more trade deals, as we did with UK.

Tired of doublespeak

Many European nations have bluntly told US vice president Vance that they are tired of America’s doublespeak. But it’s China and Russia that are bigger concerns for the US. Moscow and Beijing understand this. That is why China president Xi Jinping marked the 75th year of India-China friendship with a secret but soulful letter to president Droupadi Murmu. It showed the unfortunate incidents of the last decade may cease.

As you read this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in China. Earlier, in a Japanese interview, Modi said cordial relations between the two most populous neighbours can positively affect global peace and prosperity. China’s foreign minister already visited Delhi to work out arrangements. Modi’s meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Beijing has its own significance, and a joint statement can play a pivotal role in creating a multipolar world. Before touching down in Beijing, Modi made significant economic deals in Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun promised to invest $68 billion in the next 10 years.

These agreements are bound to succeed. But we should remember: no matter how many trade deals we strike, they will only thrive if we grow stronger. America’s attitude towards us has deteriorated since it thinks it can survive without India.

Just a hundred years ago, at least six Chinese cities were under foreign rule. Shanghai was under US, British and French influence, while Beijing was the playground of American, Russian, Japanese and French powerplay. Things changed after Mao’s Red Revolution, and today China is the world’s second-largest economy and military power.

There’s a tendency among a section of Indians to berate our country by incessantly comparing it with China. They forget China has a totalitarian government, while India has a federal structure and a thriving democracy. People are free to say whatever they like, and today’s discourse is proof.

Our post-independence progress, despite handicaps, has irritated many. If China outgrew its captors, we too have outshone our colonial masters. Isn’t that achievement inspiring enough for this generation of nation-builders, entrepreneurs and citizens?

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.