Deve Gowda says Trump ‘blind’ to call Indian economy dead

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Friday attacked US President Donald Trump for calling the Indian economy dead and in a veiled jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said “some opposition leaders are acting like declared spokespersons of Trump.”

Gowda’s reference was to Gandhi’s support for Trump’s “Indian economy is dead” statement.

Strongly rejecting what he described as Trump’s baseless and ill-tempered remarks on India and the Indian economy, Gowda, in a statement, said, “I don’t think modern history has seen another head of state who has been so volatile, uncivil and irresponsible. Trump has not just behaved badly with India, but with every other country across the world. He has not spared his own long-standing allies. There is something fundamentally wrong with him, which reason, diplomacy or statecraft cannot diagnose and address.”

Gowda said even a small trader and a poor farmer in India, who conducts his business with great dignity, integrity can teach many lessons to Trump.

Asserting that India was a sovereign state, the former PM said, “I’m very happy and proud that India under the leadership of PM Modi has not compromised on national interest. On the contrary, the Modi government has gone to the full length to protect the Indian agricultural sector as well as small and medium businesses on which more than half the nation’s population is dependent.”