UNITED States President Mr. Donald Trump and his ardent follower in India -- Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha -- Mr. Rahul Gandhi are out of their minds as they call the Indian economy as “dead”. Until now at least some people gave them good enough marks to scrape through the basic test of public acclaim. But from now on, they would not pass the test.

 

Common people have begun taking them as marked failures and fully unsuitable for the big roles they are expected to play as per their respective positions. For, when Mr. Donald Trump calls the Indian (and also the Russian) economy as “dead”, and when Mr. Rahul Gandhi, too, repeats that epithet at home in India, then the people know that both of them are catering to certain anti-India agenda in which thoughtlessness is the core value. Certain authentic statistics explain the reality best. An official report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the Indian economy is slated to grow at 6.5%. This is the highest rating the IMF has given to the country in its current assessment. China follows with the projected growth of 4.8% -- and the United States has been shown to have the prospect of growing only at 1.9%. The economies of Japan, Germany (for example) are shown to have growth rates only in decimals. These figures are not hidden from Mr. Donald Trump, nor are they hidden from Mr. Rahul Gandhi. Yet, the two leaders -- one in the US and another in India -- insist that the Indian economy is “dead”! Surely, they are out of their minds.

 

There also are multiple other parameters -- such as the Foreign Exchange Reserve -- that show how India has its FER well above 700 billion dollars (which is way above the FERs of many so-called developed countries). The IMF also recently stated that India has been able to lift more than 40 crore people above Poverty Line. Another assessment says that India has surpassed Japan also to become the world fourth largest economy -- which means that it has surpassed not just Japan but the United Kingdom in its economic consolidation. Yet, the Indian economy is “dead” ! Obviously, Mr. Donald Trump is only trying to brow-beat India into a trade deal favourable to the US. Hence this diatribe. Hence this dirty narrative that nobody believes.

 

Hence this cantankerousness as a bravado before the prospective trade deal with India. But to such a man -- and also to Mr. Rahul Gandhi -- we have a few questions to ask: One, if the Indian economy is so “dead”, then why is the US keen on having a trade deal with it? Two, if the Indian economy is “dead”, why did England enter a Free Trade Agreement with India after so much of negotiation? Three, if the Indian economy is dead, why does China say again and again that it would be happy to collaborate with India even on trading terms? The list of such questions is very long, and Mr. Trump -- and Mr. Rahul Gandhi -- would be panting and puffing and gasping for breath knowing all those. But then, we also realise that the stakes for both -- Mr. Trump and R. Gandhi -- are very high. Hence all that berating and imagined down-grading and emotional blackmail. Most unfortunately, none of the two leaders know that India cannot be brow-beaten into submission of any kind. Unfortunately for them, India knows all too well that its economy is pulsating, throbbing, thriving, rising, growing, expanding, blossoming (from inside out). So, the description of the Indian economy being “dead” just does not make any sense to anybody in the world -- except of course Mr. Donald Trump in the US and Mr. Rahul Gandhi in India. They have gone blind in stupid rage -- and in that state of sightlessness -- and senselessness -- they do not see the Indian economy’s sustained growth in the past one decade. That’s their problem !