RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch on Friday censured US President Donald Trump for his “coercive tactics” of threatening penalties against India for trade ties with Russia, appearing to launch a counter-attack on behalf of the Narendra Modi government.

“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,” Manch co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said in a statement, seeking to obliquely credit Modi with
bold leadership.

He said the Manch “expresses deep concern over US President Donald Trump’s recent statement threatening ‘unspecified penalties’ against India’s trade ties with Russia, in addition to the already announced 25 per cent tariff hike.”

The statement comes at a time when the Modi government has been cagey about directly criticising Trump’s threatened tariffs and penalties on India, or his repeated claims about having mediated an India-Pakistan “ceasefire” and forced a halt on
Operation Sindoor.

“We are an emerging global power, (as we) demonstrated decisively during Operation Sindoor, and committed to building robust indigenous capabilities in arms production,” the Manch, the Sangh’s economic think tank, said.

“The US, too, needs to move beyond the inertia of a unipolar worldview and embrace the reality of a multipolar, cooperative order.”

The statement’s belligerence marked a contrast with the government’s studied silence on Trump’s description of the Indian economy as a “dead” one and his barely concealed celebration of deeper ties with Pakistan.

All that has emanated from the Indian government by way of a reply has been commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s oblique rebuttal of Trump in Parliament on Thursday, when he stressed that India was a “bright spot” in the global economy.

Appearing to do what the government has shied away from, the Manch asserted India’s sovereign right to trade with Russia. New Delhi’s procurement of oil and military hardware from Moscow is what has angered Trump.

“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,” the Manch said.

It urged the US to respond to the greater challenge posed by China instead of resorting to punitive measures against “strategic partner” India.

“It’s 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 weaponisation of trade and global value chains,” the Manch said.

“Rather than resorting to pressure, the US and India should strengthen cooperation to build resilient, diversified, and equitable global supply chains.”

The Manch underlined that Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports was causing immense harm to manufacturing capacities worldwide.

It lauded the Modi government for standing firm against US pressure and urged it toresist any attempts to force open India’s markets to US farm products.

“We have rightly resisted attempts to force open our markets to genetically modified agricultural products, dairy imports and other sensitive sectors,” the Manch, which says it promotes Indian self-reliance, said.

The Modi government can’t afford to let in GM agricultural products or dairy imports given the possible political repercussions. Ruling party leaders said such a move could trigger a fierce farmers’ agitation, something the government can’t afford, having already been forced by the 2020-21 protest to withdraw three new farm laws.

“Whether or not a trade agreement is reached, Indian exports to the US will continue on the basis of mutual economic benefit. We must avoid concessions that undermine our farmers, small-scale industries, or long-term economic self-reliance,” the Manch said.

It suggested that the government accelerate the diversification of trade “beyond traditional partners, deepening ties with Latin America, Africa, the expanded BRICS bloc, and the Global South”.

“While the US remains India’s largest trading partner, trade must always serve mutual benefit — not be used as an instrument of pressure,” the statement said.