'India will be ...': What BJP said on impact of Trump's tariff; cites local consumption

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday downplayed the impact of US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 50 per cent tariff on India, asserting that India’s economy would be "least affected" by tariffs despite global pressures.Addressing a press briefing, BJP national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said India was “going to be the least affected by tariffs” due to its strong domestic consumption base.“A lot of people are talking about tariffs these days... I want to tell you in brief that India is such a country that is going to be the least affected by tariffs. What is the reason for that? Today, there is a 57-58% contribution of local consumption to our GDP... Whatever impact there is in our economy, the pace at which it is moving, it is not going to decrease; rather it will grow faster. That is why when the rating agency saw that there is one such positive thing in India that 20% of the world's population lives in India, there is local consumption and this is not an export driven economy, India will comfortably bear this problem too,” Islam said.He further noted that India’s economic performance stood in sharp contrast to Western nations. “Looking at the global scenario today, inflation in America and the UK is higher than ours. Today, the whole world is grappling with inflation, while here, inflation is under control. The Congress often discusses Food Inflation; I want to tell them that today, food inflation in the country is -1.6%. This means the prices of food and drink items have decreased,” he said.The BJP spokesperson also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policies for strengthening India’s global position.“At a time, when the world is grappling with economic turbulence and pricing challenges, international rating agencies hold a positive outlook on India’s economy. This transformation has been made possible by the government’s policy measures and reforms. I thank the people of our nation for choosing a stable and strong government three times in a row... The kind of policies that Prime Minister Modi has adopted since 2014, I can proudly say today that the country's economy has not only become stronger but is also racing forward rapidly. From all institutions and economists around the world, only positive signals are coming regarding India's economy,” Islam said.