New York [US], September 3 (ANI): US President Donald Trump is facing severe crticism at home for imposing 'irrational' tariffs on India with some experts advising him to turn them down to zero and 'apologise'.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Edward Price, adjunct professor at New York University, mentioned that India has a 'deciding' vote in shaping the 21st century and termed Washington's relationship with India as 'crucial,' expressing more amazement over Donald Trump's decision.

'I consider the partnership between India and the US as the most crucial 21st-century partnership. This partnership will decide what happens between China and Russia. India has the deciding vote in the 21st century...India is a significant player in the 21st century and is poised to become even more powerful. I can't for the life of me understand why the President of US in confrontation with China and in a war with Russia, if you think about it, then 50 per cent tariffs on India. We need to remove the 50 per cent tariff on India and get it down to something far more reasonable, I suggest zero per cent and apologise.' he told ANI

Edward Price then praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him 'pretty smart' for reminding the US that India has other options but not completely embracing the Russia-China alliance, not attending Beijing's military parade.

'PM Modi is being pretty smart. He is reminding the Americans, he's reminding people like me that he has options, but he's not fully embraced China and Russia and is not attending the military parade, for example,' Price said.

Price also argued that India will never come under the Chinese influence, given its independent-minded sovereignty. He added that India makes its own choices and will not put its foot in one direction or another.

'There is no Moscow sphere of influence, and that's Putin's entire problem. He is trying to rebuild the old Soviet empire. So, there is no Moscow sphere of influence. There is a Chinese sphere of influence that Russia is a part of right now. If you're asking whether India, under Modi, is willingly becoming a part of that sphere of influence, which is effectively the Chinese sphere of influence, no. Let's just go back and remember India is an independently minded sovereign with its own civilisation. It makes its own choices...There's no way that India is going to permanently put its feet, one side or the other, of a line, and especially not when it looks at what's happened to Russia, which is essentially a form of economic conquest by China,' he said.

Speaking about former US NSA Jake Sullivan's allegations that Donald Trump is sacrificing Washington's ties with India to further his family's business interests in Pakistan, Edward Price noted that Trump does have active financial interests but added that it's 'impossible ' to comment for certain.

'It does seem that the President of the United States has active financial interests and this is a departure with what's always traditionally been the case, which is that Presidents are not supposed to have active financial interests and I'm afraid to say we will never know, it's almost impossible to get to the bottom of what exactly those interests are,' he said.

The assessment highlights growing concerns among foreign policy experts about the potential long-term consequences of current US-India trade tensions on broader strategic cooperation between the world's two largest democracies. (ANI)