In the face of mounting threats from the US to end its purchases of Russian oil or face steep punitive tariffs, India on Monday issued a defiant and unapologetic rebuttal, sending a clear message to Washington: enough is enough.
Pulling no punches, the Ministry of External Affairs lambasted the “unjustified and unreasonable” targeting of New Delhi, and called out the US and the European Union for their own continued trade ties with Russia.
From publicly rubbishing US President Donald Trump's false claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, to unequivocally rejecting pressure on its energy ties with Moscow, New Delhi has made one thing crystal clear: it values diplomacy, restraint, and dialogue—but it will not be dictated to.
It all began with Trump’s boastful assertions over the India-Pakistan flare-up in May, claiming he had single-handedly negotiated a ceasefire. But in a rare, outright dismissal of a US President's remarks, New Delhi categorically denied any such involvement.
Parliament was also told in no uncertain terms that there was no phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump to bring an end to the four-day conflict. The public rebuttal signalled that New Delhi would not let political grandstanding and misinformation from Washington go unchecked.
Now, Trump has accused India of helping to bankroll Russia’s war in Ukraine. He announced plans to raise tariffs on Indian goods by 25 per cent starting August 7, along with additional penalties unless India halts its imports of discounted Russian crude, which now account for one-third of the country's oil imports.
On his Truth Social platform, the US President accused India of “not caring how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine,” and even alleged that India was “selling Russian oil on the open market for big profits.”
Earlier, he derided both Russia and India as "dead economies" and warned they would "go down together." Trump’s top advisor Stephen Miller also warned that it is "not acceptable" for India to fund Russia’s war through oil purchases.
But the Modi government isn't flinching.
“India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict,” Jaiswal said, adding that the US “actively encouraged such imports by India” during the early stages of the Ukraine war.
With Russian oil now accounting for a third of India’s imports, the government has made it abundantly clear that strategic autonomy, not Western expectations, will guide its energy policy.
Trump’s strong-arming comes at a delicate moment in US-India ties. After months of back-and-forth over a trade agreement, his administration’s unilateral tariff hike, coupled with jabs at India’s economy and strategic allies, has strained diplomatic goodwill.
Even more provocative was Trump’s suggestion that India could consider buying oil from arch-rival Pakistan. New Delhi is also leery of Trump’s warming ties with Islamabad, including new deals on energy, cryptocurrency and resource mining.
India has remained non-aligned throughout the Ukraine conflict, maintaining its decades-old defence and energy ties with Moscow while simultaneously deepening cooperation with Washington and other Western nations.
