RSS affiliate slams US' coercive tactics, urges India to stay firm sans compromise

Time of India

4 days ago

New Delhi: The
Swadeshi Jagran Manch
(SJM), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Friday slammed the US for applying 'coercive tactics' on India to gain access to Indian markets in sensitive sectors, and asked the government to stay firm on its stance to protect
national interest
.
It also said that India must avoid concessions that undermine farmers, small-scale industries, or long-term economic self-reliance.
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'The Swadeshi Jagran Manch urges the Government of India to maintain its firm stance and to use this moment to strengthen strategic autonomy, protect national interest, and advance a truly multipolar and equitable
global trade order
, and make decisive move towards '
Aatmanirbhar Bharat
,' it said Friday.
The key sticking points in the ongoing India-US trade negotiations remain the US demand for market access for genetically modified (GM) crops, deregulation of medical devices, and unrestricted cross-border data flows. India, on the other hand, has legitimately sought exemptions from steel, automobile, and pharmaceutical tariffs and defended its policy of data localisation.
'Indian negotiators have rightly resisted attempts to force open our markets to GM agricultural products, dairy imports, and other sensitive sectors,' said Ashwani Mahajan, National Co- Convener, SJM.
SJM stated that India's sovereign right to procure defence equipment to strengthen self-reliance in defence production and to secure crude oil at the most competitive prices—essential to keeping domestic inflation under check—cannot be subjected to external pressure.
'India's principled stand—that GM food imports threaten both our biodiversity and
food security
, and that sensitive data must remain within sovereign control—is fully aligned with our long-term national interest,' Mahajan noted.
He said the US continues to exert pressure on multiple countries to lower tariffs outside the framework of WTO rules, often invoking non-trade considerations under the guise of reciprocity.
'If Washington believes that such coercive tactics can sway India's decisions, it must recognise that today's India is not the India of a decade ago…The United States, too, needs to move beyond the inertia of a unipolar worldview and embrace the reality of a multipolar, cooperative order,' he said.
As per Mahajan, it is unfortunate that the US has chosen to adopt punitive measures against a strategic partner at a time when the world must collectively respond to the far greater challenge posed by China's weaponization of trade and global value chains as Beijing's restrictions on rare earth exports is causing huge harm to manufacturing capacities worldwide.
He suggested that instead of resorting to pressure, the US and India should strengthen cooperation to build resilient, diversified, and equitable global supply chain.
'The experience of recent years has shown that India can leverage shifting global trade patterns—including those resulting from US–China tensions—to its advantage without compromising core interests.
Whether or not a trade agreement is reached, Indian exports to the US will continue on the basis of mutual economic benefit, the SJM said.