Read the full transcript of Indian politician Sudhanshu Trivedi’s speech (translated version) titled “India Will Benefit From The Tariff War”, at Republic Bharat Samwad, August 22, 2025.
India Will Benefit From The Tariff War
SUDHANSHU TRIVEDI: The Head of the Republic Network sitting in this auditorium is Arnab Goswami Ji, Bhai Ashware Kapoor Ji, Acharya Pramod Krishnam Ji, Adharniya Mukesh Khanna Ji, and all the respected sisters and brothers present here. As we gather today for a dialogue on this subject, the world is looking a little different. There is a clash over tariffs and confusion over what is going to happen in the future. What are the challenges and how will things unfold?
At the same time, if you look, the world is also in a phase of major change. And this is not the first time this has happened in India.
Learning from the 1998 Pokhran Experience
I would like to remind you of the 1998 Pokhran Explosion on May 11 and 13, 1998. After that, we faced economic sanctions that threatened the very fabric of our economic situation. No one was willing to invest in India, and economic sanctions were imposed from above.
If the old people remember, Resurgent India Bonds were issued by the BJP government. Subscriptions worth five billion dollars were targeted, and five billion dollars came in. Who invested? Indians invested, outsiders invested. Even those against whom the whole environment attempts to create hatred today – if you look at the facts, they came to the aid of India’s economy at that time.
A cess of fifty paise was levied on petrol. That initially brought in fifty thousand crore rupees. When it started in December 98-99, which sector needed liquidity? Housing loans almost halved. The middle class started taking huge amounts of housing loans.
Global Economic Challenges: US and China
Milton Friedman was a huge economist at the time. He used to advise the US government. The US faces massive challenges with social security because the population is getting old. In these coming decades, social security expenses are going to be exponential.
You may have noticed that last year in France, there were violent protests when the government increased the retirement age by two years. People in India would be happy – “I will get another chance to work for two years.” But why the protests there? The US has 60-62 trillion dollars in obligations – that’s three times America’s GDP. Imagine how big the economic challenge is.
China’s economic growth appears superb, but let me give you the real picture. China adopted a one-child policy in the 1980s under that authoritarian regime. This policy has been devastating.
When it comes to economic opportunities in India, it is said there is a market of 140 crores that can be absorbed domestically. Europe’s population is 70 to 75 crores – China has double Europe’s population. China is in a much better economic position than India, has a much bigger middle class than India, has better purchasing capacity than India. So why can’t China absorb its own production?
In 2024, there were 36 railway stations where not a single train goes. The loans of 71 banks were over the limit. The real estate sector that was contributing 30 percent to GDP – that bubble has burst. Despite this, the growth rate appears great, but these things are not easily digested.
Europe’s Demographic Challenge
You see data from both the US and China in all your media. 25% of children under 10 years old in Europe are Muslims. These are the generational challenges facing America and Europe.
India’s Internal Challenges
Now I see the opportunities and challenges we have. What challenge do we have? The challenge is that India has no external challenge. The external situation is the most favorable for India. The challenge is internal, because we have many people sitting who have to ensure that India’s growth does not come.
This is not happening from today. A report titled “The Policy of Recent Development between India and Pakistan” was published by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute in October 2016. Go to point number 8 and 9 and see what it says.
It says “we have to target the fault lines of India – Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities.” Then it says to target Dalit and other backward classes within Hindu society. After that, it says we have to outreach to civil society, sections of media, intellectuals and political parties.
The Systematic Campaign Against India
Power change happened in 2014. People thought it was a fluke. After 2019, when we won again, many institutions around the world held a conference called “Dismantling Global Hindutva” in 2021. Then there was a conference in India on “Eradication of Sanatan Dharma.”
A project was funded with about four million dollars just to create papers. The project aimed to increase caste divide, and for this, the issue of caste census had to be carried forward.
You can verify these facts from your own sources. A new era has begun to divide within India. Remember, there was a Minister of Karnataka who said “the South pays more taxes, the North pays less.” When asked by journalists if they should be separated, he said “Yes, we’ll separate once we’re apart.”
The Historical Perspective
As we were children, there was a song that said, “How do we assume that we can bear the weight of this burden?” The next line of that song is very serious today: “The nation has people who have forgotten selfishness. The mantra of caste discrimination is now flowing like a polluted stream. How can we assume the burden of this mother?”
That’s why we have to be very careful. We are never safe from the movements of the enemy. We have to keep in mind what is happening inside the country.
India’s Rise and Global Impact
What is India going to give to the world? Understand this – a historical paradigm shift is happening.