Why US spares China, but hits India: Marco Rubio defends Russian oil hypocrisy
Rubio revealed that European nations have already expressed unease over such measures. "When we discussed the Senate bill proposing a 100 percent tariff on China and India, we heard from a number of European countries that they were unhappy with that possibility," he added.His comments came after he had earlier stressed that India's energy trade with Moscow has long been a sore spot in Washington. Speaking to Fox Radio, Rubio said India's continued purchases of Russian oil were "helping to sustain the Russian war effort in Ukraine" and were "most certainly a point of irritation" in New Delhi's relationship with the United States, though not the only one."India has huge energy needs and that includes the ability to buy oil and coal and gas and things that it needs to power its economy like every country does, and it buys it from Russia, because Russian oil is sanctioned and cheap. In many cases, they're selling it under the global price because of the sanctions," he said."Unfortunately, that is helping to sustain the Russian war effort. So it is most certainly a point of irritation in our relationship with India - not the only point of irritation. We also have many other points of cooperation with them."Yet, while the US has refrained from sanctioning China, Washington has moved aggressively against India. After first imposing a 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, President Donald Trump recently doubled the duty to 50 percent, penalising New Delhi for persisting with Russian oil imports. The White House also warned India that secondary sanctions could follow if it did not alter its course.The move has sparked accusations of double standards, with critics pointing out that China continues to import large volumes of Russian oil without facing similar punitive measures. Despite Trump's repeated threats, India has maintained there has been no pause in its Russian oil purchases and accused Washington of hypocrisy.advertisementThe debate over sanctions comes against the backdrop of Trump's high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Although the summit did not yield a breakthrough on a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump described the talks as productive, calling them a "10/10".In a subsequent interview, he softened his stance on Russia, signalling a temporary pause on secondary sanctions. "I may have to think about it [sanctions] in two or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that immediately," Trump said. "If I did secondary sanctions now, that would be devastating for them."Just days before the Alaska summit, Trump had argued that his tariffs on India had pressured Moscow into seeking direct engagement with Washington, claiming that Russia was losing its "second-largest customer". New Delhi, however, has brushed off the assertion, underlining that its energy trade with Moscow remains uninterrupted.- EndsTune InMust Watch
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