New Delhi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owasi on Friday questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed “afraid of America”, while the government slammed the government on charges of 50 percent tariff on Indian exports by the United States.Talking to reporters, Owasi questioned: “US ‘Peter Navaro is making a statement. Is the same statement on the PM by a opposition leader in the country, BJP must have attacked him. Why are they silent? … Why are you so afraid of America?”
He called the move a “major disadvantage” to the country’s trade, warned that areas such as motor parts, jewelery, gems and readymade clothing may face an estimated loss of about Rs 60,000 crore.The AIMIM chief also reported that the tariff issue came to light after Modi’s bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump in February, and accused the government of remaining silent while failing to protect India’s exporters. Owaisi said that opposition leaders would have faced strong criticism from the BJP to make similar comments.“50% tariff will be a big loss for India’s exporters … I think the Narendra Modi government will have to respond to the people of the country … The Modi government will have to answer what they are going to do for those who are going to face the loss,” said Owasi.Owaisi also referred to the White House trade advisor Peter Navaro, who created a controversy by calling the Russia-Ukraine struggle a “war”. In an interview in Bloomberg, Navaro claimed that India’s concessional Russian oil purchases were “fueling Russia’s war machine” and effectively carrying the cost to American taxpayers. Owaisi criticized the government for not publicly responded to Navaro’s comments.The senior leader also said that India made a major mistake when Trump asked the country to stop the country from buying oil during his first term. Owaisi said that if PM Modi had shown disregard or stood for him, the current situation with the American tariff could be avoided.“Iran was selling us of good quality oil at a reasonable price. We were taking a nap there to see they could scare us. This was the first mistake we made,” said Owasi.He said that BJP spokespersons should tell the country what is happening instead of taunting the opposition.
