Trump Ramps Criticism of India: 'Backing 'Russian War Machine'

The war of words between New Delhi and US President Donald Trump – and the growing rift between the two allies – over India’s trade with Russia appears to be intensifying.

On Tuesday, India sharply criticised the United States and the European Union, saying it has been unfairly singled out by them over its purchases of Russian oil, because both trade extensively with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

India’s criticism came between threats by Trump on Monday and Tuesday to raise tariffs on goods from India over its dealings with Russia, and deepening the divide between the two countries.

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Earlier, in a rare show of unity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress on Tuesday condemned Trump’s repeated criticism of New Delhi.

India’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued late on Monday that “it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia,” Reuters reported.

‘EU and US still trade with Russia’

“It is unjustified to single out India,” the ministry said. It said the EU conducted 67.5 billion euros ($78.02 billion) in trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reaching 16.5 million metric tons.

The United States, the statement said, continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals. It did not give a source for the export information.

Both the United States and EU have sharply scaled back their trade ties with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In 2021, Russia was the EU’s fifth-largest trading partner, with goods exchanged worth 258 billion euros, according to the EU executive European Commission.

‘Constant bullying’

The sudden rift between India and the US has been deepening since July 31, when Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods being shipped to the US, and for the first time, threatened unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil.

India is one of the biggest buyers of crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago.

Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, which is majority owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, was subjected to European Union sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and energy industry in July.

India has said it does not support “unilateral sanctions” by the EU.

Meanwhile, trade experts say Trump‘s tariff could badly hurt India‘s economy.

Ajay Srivastava of the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative said he expected Indian goods exports to the US to fall 30% in the current fiscal year ending March 31, to $60.6 billion from $86.5 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.

India‘s equity benchmarks fell after Trump‘s renewed threat of harsh tariffs on goods from India.

Manish Tewari, a member of parliament and Congress leader, said Trump‘s “disparaging remarks hurt the dignity and self-respect of Indians”.

“The time has come to call out this constant bullying and hectoring,” he added.

BJP Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda quoted Henry Kissinger – the most powerful US diplomat of the Cold War era – in a post on X: “To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”

‘Fuelling Russian war machine’

Trump said on Monday he would substantially raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

And on Tuesday, he said he would increase the tariff on Indian imports from 25% “very substantially” over the next 24 hours, given India’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

“They’re fueling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” Trump told CNBC in an interview, adding that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high.

He did not provide a new tariff rate for India.