For joining us. You know what I love about the fact is that you're so out and about trying to find out what's happening, wrapping your head around all the geopolitical issues. Donald Trump was here in Davos. What did you make of his speech and you were among the few Indian businessmen who actually had an opportunity to be part of a meeting with him. How was that?
Predictable. I think everybody expected him to be going off script and which he did. I think there's too much noise and as Secretary Besson said, don't react to noise, keep your calm, things will get better. I believe that in the end, the US is an important part of the world, one of the most economically powerful, militarily powerful nations, but it is still a democratic nation where if things go completely out of hand, things will start to come back. What is important is for the world to know the old world order has certainly shifted. Now where will it land up? What new institutions will come through it? But something has to give now. Europe will have to come together as a voice. No more fragmented Europe and together through Brussels. It doesn't work. Have one voice. You can't have a situation where two leading heads of state have a strong reaction and two say no we must compromise. It doesn't work. Europe in the next 10 years will have made their own arrangements on defense, on security, on intelligence sharing, on satellites, GPS, but it'll take 10 years. They have been, if I may say, Europe has been on a vacation and when you come back from a vacation, you can either be very charged up to do things or you could be in a lazy mode, not do much. What Trump has done is shake them up very hard. I think Europe is acting now. Is there a method in the madness that you see or do you only see madness? Methods. There's a method. Ask for the moon, settle for the stars.
How should India be dealing with Donald Trump given the fact that he actually did impose the tariffs? In the case of Greenland, now he's pulled back against Europe, but in India, he stuck with the tariffs and he's giving all kinds of threats. What's your sense as a corporate leader how the country should be dealing with Donald Trump?
I would say India has dealt well. Although I know there's a lot of people who criticize India could have done this, India could have done that. As I mentioned, I am in the world of business but I am also a student of geopolitics. I personally feel India has done well by keeping quiet, not reacting to the noise. Our leadership has had a calm approach towards the whole issue. They engage Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar at every level. I had a chance to meet Secretary Howard Lutnick yesterday. You can see that underlying things are moving now. India's focused on the EU deal. Hopefully next week the EU deal should get inked, which is a really big thing.
Significant, that is, Vandan called this the mother of all deals. How significant would an India-EU free trade agreement be?
It'll be big because EU needs a big country. China is not the natural choice. The US is in a difficult situation. India with 1.5 billion people becomes a continent for Europe to have access to, and equally, a $25 trillion economy that the EU jointly is, is meaningful for India. I would say this will be a good cushion for India and also gives it strength to negotiate with the US better.
What are you making of all the turbulence in the India-US trade negotiations? We're hearing all kinds of rhetoric. The other question that's now being asked in Davos is, is there any purpose in Delhi and DC having a deal given that Donald Trump could a few weeks, months, years later change his mind like he's done with the EU? You work so hard on getting to the finishing line and the guy could change his mind.
But India, you deal when it happens; it will be done.
I'm asking about the India-US deal and the trouble that we are facing there.
Once the deal is done, I think it gets settled. I don't think it'll get reopened between India and the US. You can still see that the US has called India back onto the table on the strategic semiconductor piece. So basically, you have come on to the space program, the critical technologies, the iCET which was established is being reinvigorated. India has receded on buying oil from Russia, which was irritating the US, and of course a few issues on pulses and agriculture and those things on the margin where India may relent a little bit, but largely it cannot. I think America understands that. My own view is it'll get settled. It's a matter of maybe a couple of months.
But how do you think India should be dealing with the ego and the arrogance of Donald Trump? You heard what Secretary Lutnick said: phone you know and then by then it's too late. So you are now not just dealing with the trade negotiations, the commas, the full stop, the minutiae, you're also dealing with the personality of Donald Trump and his team.
Well, we have seen that flattery can only get you that far. Europe has been doing that for a period of time and we know where it landed. So I think India is having the right approach: respectful, balanced, and yet you need to be a proud Indian. You need to be proud of your own strengths and country. In the end, it's got to be a win-win deal because you cannot have a situation where you keep giving in. If there is no end to it, it's better to stop early than later.
How are you as a corporate leader and from what you're finding out from other business houses, dealing with the uncertainty that Donald Trump brings? Because you're not just trying to keep pace with business developments and economic numbers, you're also just trying to find out what's going on in the world and that keeps changing every hour. What does that do for us as a business community? Faster reforms. We saw the GST reform come through very quickly. Labor reform. In fact, the labor reform means paying more to the workers, which is great news because it gets the circular economy going. People have more money, they can buy more stuff. So our business brethren, my community, should welcome that. I think that's settled as well. Then you're seeing now tax reforms coming through. I'm hoping in the upcoming budget there should be further ease of doing business, further tax reforms. What specific takeaway?
