Trump’s dead economy remark should not be taken literally: Shashi Tharoor

Tharoor on Sunday said that when wars are being conducted with the active involvement of some of the biggest powers, and people who are supposed to be upholding world order are contributing to promoting disorder, India needs to be very clear about its national interests.

The senior Congress leader, who was in conversation with Crossword CEO Aakash Gupta in Pune, spoke on a wide range of issues, including his latest book, “The Living Constitution”.Tharoor said that it is a turbulent and unpredictable world, especially with Trump in the White House.

“On Trump, let me say, you can’t take him literally, but you do need to take him seriously. He is the President of the US, and the decisions he makes can affect policies, and policies can affect us. So take him seriously, but don’t take him literally, not every word.

When he says your economy is dead, it’s like a schoolboy in the playground saying your mother is ugly. You are not supposed to take that seriously. It is meant to be an insult, not meant to be taken literally,” he saidThe entire impact of Trump’s tariff policies over the last six months or so has taken the whole world back, and India too had a bit of a jolt just two to three days ago, Tharoor said.

“We are going to have to recover because the American relationship, and I don’t just mean the trade relationship, the strategic partnership, is important enough for us to want to make the real effort to make this work.

So I think there is a lot that needs to be done,” he said.The wars are being conducted with the active involvement of some of the biggest powers in the world.

And that, again, means that the people who are supposed to be upholding world order are contributing to promoting disorder.

In the midst of all this, what does India do to navigate its position? Well, first of all, of course, we have to be very clear in our minds what our national interests are,” Tharoor said.

India’s first and most important national interest is the well-being of its people, of the Indian people, he said.The wars are being conducted with the active involvement of some of the biggest powers in the world.

And that, again, means that the people who are supposed to be upholding world order are contributing to promoting disorder.

In the midst of all this, what does India do to navigate its position? Well, first of all, of course, we have to be very clear in our minds what our national interests are,” Tharoor said.

India’s first and most important national interest is the well-being of its people, of the Indian people, he said.We have to be a significant player so that we are not in a position where others can dictate to us or push us around. Our credibility matters. We are already the most populous country in the world. We are already amongst the largest economies in the world and will soon be the third largest. In all these circumstances, we do matter. We have to be counted. But at the same time, we have to be sure what we want to be counted for,” he asserted

He added that the credibility of the United Nations Charter and the Security Council is 

US President Trump last week called India a ‘dead economy’ just hours after he announced