Bengaluru: International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath made a scathing remark against India at the World Economic Forum and blamed the country for the global slowdown. 
In her own words, she said, "Simple calculation says it would be over 80 per cent."

But on the contrary, a battery of Indian economists have debunked her theory. 

Akash Jindal, an economist, said, “For the past 2 years, the US-China trade war has been creating havoc across the world. Blaming India isn't correct. When one compares India's global trade with that of the US and China it is minuscule, then how can India impact world GDP?” 

Principal economist India Research & Ratings Sunil Sinha seconded his thoughts. He said, "Global trade is in doldrums which is impacting India's GDP, not the other way round. Exports across the globe have been hit, which have dampened Indian exports, as a result, India cannot be blamed for the downfall in the world's GDP. The world is in midst of a churn, from the US to Europe to Russia - not a single country is showing tremendous growth, trade has been impacted the most in the last 2 years with neither US nor China agreeing to back down. World GDP is a reflection of these trade strains, blaming India isn't correct.” 

NR Bhanumurthy Professor at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said, "India cannot impact the world economy single-handedly and bring it down as IMF is projecting. US-China trade war, US tensions with Iran, exports moving at snail's pace are the primary reasons for the condition of the global economy."

Though Indian economists have jumped to its defence, Congress party had begged to differ. Instead of showing solidarity with the PM Modi and backing to the core, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram had a rather vindictive take on the issue. 

He had said, “I suppose we must prepare ourselves for an attack by government ministers on the IMF and Dr Gita Gopinath.” 

All the reactions of the Indian economists were as reported by India Today.