‘Trump must be blind…’: Former PM HD Deve Gowda slams US President for calling India ‘dead economy’

The former PM said modern history has not seen another head of state who has been so volatile, uncivil and irresponsible

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowde has come down heavily on US President Donald Trump for calling India a ‘dead economy’. Gowda said Trump must be blind for making such remarks against India which is the fastest and fifth largest economy in the world.

In his official statement shared by PTI on X, the former PM said he was surprised by Trump’s “baseless and ill-tempered remarks” on India and the Indian economy.

The former PM said modern history has not seen another head of state who has been so volatile, uncivil and irresponsible.

“India has been the fastest growing economy and is the fifth largest economy in the globe. Mr. Trump must either be blind or ill-informed to designate our economy as ‘dead’,” he wrote.

Reacting to Trump’s hitting out at both India and Russia on July 31 when he said he doesn’t care what they do and New Delhi and Moscow can take their “dead economies down together”, Gowda said, the US President has not just behaved badly with India, but with every other country across the world.

“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump had said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump reiterated that India’s tariffs are too high and the US has done "very little" business with the country. “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.”

Trump also slammed Russia and its former president Dimitry Medvedev, asking him to “watch his words”. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!"

The US President on July 30 imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports from India, handing out a major blow to New Delhi's trade negotiations. Additionally, the US President imposed a penalty for importing oil from Russia.

The former PM said, even a small trader and a poor farmer in India, who conducts his business with great dignity, integrity and humanity, can teach many lessons to Trump.

"He has not spared his own longstanding allies. There is something fundamentally wrong with him for which reason, diplomacy or statecraft cannot diagnose and address,” he wrote.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described India as America's "friend" but added that it will face 25 percent tariffs plus a penalty for buying Russian military equipment and oil. The US President reiterated that India has among the "highest tariffs in the world".

Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will kick in from August targeting nations with whom the US hasn't yet reached a trade deal.

The former PM said India is a sovereign nation which is diverse and democratic and ever since independence it has always acted in supreme national interest.

Gowda said India has the God-given ability and strength to negotiate all difficulties that come its way and emerge stronger.

“I am very happy and proud that India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not compromised our national interest. It has not blinked to Mr Trump’s bullying and has shown that it will never be dictated by threat, the former PM wrote.

Noting that the Modi government has gone the full length to protect the Indian agricultural sector as well as small and medium businesses, on which more than half the nation’s population is dependent, he said that the firm stand that the Modi government has taken will lead to a national resurgence of an unprecedented scale.

The former PM also cautioned “some Opposition leaders who have rejoiced the statements of Mr. Trump and have jumped to be his deluded spokespersons in India.”

“I can understand their frustration but they should not harm themselves, and their parties, and end up very soon in the dustbin of history alongside Mr Trump,” he said.