‘Don’t Lose Sleep Over It’: Manish Tewari’s ‘1971 War’ Reminder to Trump After Tariff Warning
Congress MP Manish Tewari reminded former US President Donald Trump about the time the United States attempted to intervene during the 1971 Indo-Pak War by sending naval ships to discourage India’s actions.
Shortly after Donald Trump on Monday threatened that he would “substantially raise” tariffs on India for purchasing “massive amounts of Russian Oil”, Congress MP Manish Tewari made pointed remarks aimed at the former US President and stated that India has the “resilience” to endure such a “tariff warning”.
In a sarcastic tone, he advised Trump not to “lose sleep over it” and recalled how the US had tried to intervene during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, which eventually led to the formation of Bangladesh.
Drawing parallels between the two instances as proof of India’s enduring strength, he pointed out that the US had sent its Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal to “discourage” India from “reshaping the political boundaries of South Asia”. He noted that India had “withstood that challenge” and would do the same now, should Trump proceed with his tariff warning.
“Don’t lose sleep over it… Your country sent the Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal in 1971 to stop us from redrawing the political map of South Asia. We withstood that. We have enough resilience as a nation to endure your tariff warning. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter SIR,” Tewari posted on X.
Trump alleged that a significant portion of the Russian oil bought by India was being resold in the open market “for high profits”. His statement, made on his social media platform Truth Social, came days after he announced a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on India, along with an unspecified penalty for importing Russian oil.
“India is not only buying huge quantities of Russian Oil, but much of the oil is also being resold in the Open Market for substantial profits. They don’t care about the people in Ukraine being killed by the Russian war machine. Due to this, I will significantly raise the tariff India pays to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!” Trump said in the post.
India has strongly defended its sovereign right to frame its energy policy based on national priorities.
The Central Government clarified that India’s energy purchases are driven by market forces and are in alignment with its national interest.
