Market crash of concern, India should start negotiations with US: Shashi Tharoor

Expressing concern over 7 April, Monday's stock market crash following the US government's decision to impose reciprocal tariffs on Indian imports, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor urged the Centre to start negotiations with that nation on bilateral trade.

Amid fears of a global trade war after US president Donald Trump's decision to impose reciprocal tariff on Indian imports, during the day.

Tharoor, while talking to reporters at Ahmedabad Airport, said the Indian economy will survive and won't go into recession because of its 5.4 per cent growth.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP is in the city to take part in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Tuesday, 8 April, and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session on 9 April.

"It (today's market crash) is indeed a matter of great concern. We hope India might get some relief (in tariff) during our future negotiations with the US. But, as of now, this is certainly negative news.

"Global markets, not just Indian, are severely affected. It seems no one understood Trump's logic behind tariffs because the US stock market has also crashed badly," said the Congress leader.

When asked if such a situation would lead to recession, Tharoor said, "Some countries may go into recession but we are better off because we have a 5.4 per cent growth. Therefore it (economy) may come down but it will not go into recession."

He said Trump's decision to impose higher tariffs on other countries exporting similar goods to the US can benefit India, but "at this stage it is impossible to tell".

Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "It certainly seems that some countries are going to recession. We were better off because we had a 5.4% growth and therefore it may come down but it may not go into recession. What we'll have to do is ensure that we can… pic.twitter.com/lQOImQ7Bxz

— IANS (@ians_india) April 7, 2025

"We have to ensure we can quickly start negotiations on bilateral trade agreements, which might reduce the effect of this on our economy and exports. But it depends on how successful those negotiations are," said the former diplomat.

"No one could have in 2–3 days. It was on 2 April when tariffs were announced, today is the 7th (7 April). The world has suffered so much during these five days. God knows what lies ahead.

"All we can do is tighten our belts and see how best we can cope with this," he said.