US President Donald Trump’s criticism of India for imposing retaliatory tariffs on 28 American products in response to Washington’s decision to withdraw the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) status from New Delhi is unwarranted and unreasonable, says a former Indian diplomat.

New Delhi (Sputnik) - The US president will be holding a bilateral meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday 28 June on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in the Japanese city of Osaka. This will be their first meeting after Modi’s re-election as prime minister of India.

Before departing for the G-20 Summit, Trump tweeted that New Delhi’s move to increase tariffs on certain American products was unacceptable and must be withdrawn.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019

​It contradicted a joint statement issued by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Wednesday 26 June.

Former Indian diplomat and Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar has outlined his views and expectations for the bilateral meeting between the Indian PM and US president during the G-20 Summit.

Sputnik: President Trump has described the new Indian tariffs on some American products as "unacceptable", asking New Delhi to withdraw them. How should the Indian government respond?

Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar: How can President Trump demand the withdrawal of tariffs imposed by our government on American products? Wasn’t it Trump who first increased the tariffs on goods coming into the United States from India? It is an unwarranted demand because India has only reacted to a situation that was specifically created by the US. India has not created any new situation. India was patient enough not to react to it for such a long time and then it finally reacted. That’s all. It’s an unreasonable demand.

I thought one of the things that Mr Pompeo mentioned during his visit to New Delhi was that public posturing of this kind and this grandstanding should be avoided, and now his president is doing exactly that ahead of meeting with our prime minister. This is not diplomacy.

Sputnik: There is a sense that a dichotomy exists between how President Trump thinks and how his administration thinks and acts. How do you look at it?

Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar: This is their problem. If they don’t have a coherent foreign policy, it is not something where India can help them. It is something that they should internally sort out. As far India is concerned, this statement by President Trump is unreasonable and completely unwarranted, because India has only reacted to a situation; India did not create a situation, number one. Number two, its own Secretary of State during his recent visit to New Delhi, which was just yesterday (Wednesday), had emphasised the need to address these issues patiently through negotiations and also precisely this sort of grandstanding should be avoided. And now, that is what his president has done. On the eve of his meeting with the prime minister, this certainly doesn’t create a good setting for a meaningful and constructive conversation.

India and the United States have been involved in a trade dispute since the middle of last year. According to reports, the Indian government is not in agreement with the United States’ decision to unilaterally impose tariffs on Indian products and is unhappy over the withdrawal of GSP status. After postponing the decision to retaliate on several occasions, New Delhi decided this month to impose additional duties on 28 American products.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect Sputnik’s position

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.