India, Aug. 11 -- US President Donald Trump needs to pick up the phone and call PM Modi to encourage India to engage with Russia, US Congressman Ami Bera has said in an interview with HT. Bera, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2013, emphasised the need for cooler heads to prevail to ease tensions in the India-US relationship. Bera also raised questions about the Trump administration's handling of Pakistan. Edited excerpts:

Could you help us make sense of the latest 50% tariff we've seen from President Trump?

You know, we try to figure out what President Trump does every day. What I would urge the Indians and people in the Indian government to do is to not react to everything that Donald Trump does. Obviously, you hav...