India looks Trump in the eye, says take a walk

India Today

2 days ago

India is done being patient and tolerant, as far as Donald Trump is concerned. In its most stinging reaction to the US President's call for fresh tariffs on India over its purchase of oil from Russia, India not only exposed the West's double-standards, but also conveyed that it would pursue an independent foreign policy without fear or favour. The bottom line: India is telling Trump it's not bothered by its tariffs and threats.advertisementThe Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a six-point reaction after Trump issued fresh threats of tariffs against India on his Truth Social. Point 6 of the statement, referring to India as a "major economy", put bluntly that it was aimed at Trump, who had called India's economy "dead".The MEA reaction, citing facts to counter the US and the EU on Russian trade, was unlike any other from the government. The EU's mention in the MEA statement comes after Mark Rutte, the chief of Nato, which is a military grouping with the US and several European nations as members, lectured India on its trade with Russia, and threatened sanctions.
India has been polite in rejecting Trump's repeated assertion that it was he who got India to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan in the May mini-war.Seeing Trump doubling down on tariffs with a false narrative on India's oil trade with Russia, New Delhi called out the West duplicity and double-standards, with hard facts. It also asserted that it is a sovereign nation that will determine its foreign policy independently and prioritise its national interests.In a way, New Delhi has questioned the West's morality to pass on the burden of deaths in the Ukraine-Russia war due to its oil trade.This is what we derive from the six points.India exposes US duplicity: It says DC "actively encouraged" India's oil imports from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict.India hits back at US and EU double-standards: It says India's oil trade with Russia is a result of the global market situation, while the EU and US are engaging with Russia in trade that is "not even a vital national compulsion".EU trade with Russia is "significantly more" than India's total trade with Russia in 2023 and 2024.Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy but a variety of non-essentials.The US imports from Russia include products for the nuclear industry, the EV industry, fertilisers, chemicals.US and EU targeting India is unjustified and unreasonable.India reminds Trump it is a "major economy" and will "take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security".advertisementThe last point is interesting, because it directly counters Trump's "dead economy" dig at India.Why the response is unprecedented is because India has not only defended its Russian oil trade, which was cheered by the US, but because it has attacked the US and the EU over their trade with Russia, which includes non-essential items and services.India is telling the world that it cannot be lectured on when it comes to its national interests, economic and energy security, as it can't be hectored on its national defence.New Delhi's unbending stance, which stands in sharp contrast to several countries', has been come for appreciation."Non-grovelling reaction by India to Trump's most recent threat to raise tariffs further because of Indian purchases of Russian oil," wrote journalist Rupa Subramanya, comparing it to Canada's "we're your best friend, family, we fought wars with you" pleadings.Unlike leaders of several countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't called up Trump since June 18, and even turned down, albeit courteously, the President's invitation for a US stopover while returning from the G7 Summit in Canada.advertisementPM Modi has also asserted that India agreed to the ceasefire with Pakistan in May on its own terms, junking Trump's truce claims in public.Trump, referred to as the "daddy" by Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, has a bloated ego that he wants to be massaged perpetually. Pakistan, for one, has learnt the art of massaging Trump's ego with make-believe oil.India knows Trump will try to threaten it with higher tariffs, but it is showing its intent. New Delhi realises that the tariffs aren't about trade but a bid to coerce it into changing its diplomatic alignment. And it has signalled it won't give in to arm-twisting.India has taken to the defence of the offence. It has also, in a way, conveyed the West to walk the talk on the Russia-Ukraine issue, and not pass on the guilt of its helplessness that stems from the fear of confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin.It isn't long back that Trump and his deputy Vance lashed out against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was their guest, for "starting the war with Russia".To benefit Europe, the US has put a price-cap mechanism on oil but allowed gas to flow. The EU would freeze without Russian gas in winter.advertisementThough Trump might be itching to, the US can't outright place sanctions on oil from Russia, which is one of the top fossil fuel producers in the world, because it will end up giving the world a crude shock.While Trump has the MAGA madmen to cheer him on destroying alliances with tariff threats, in India, everyone's united with the government in giving a befitting reply to the West.India is telling Trump there's no ceasefire from its end in this tariff battle. Trump might try and call Pakistani General Asim Munir and request its DGMO to call up New Delhi again, this time for a Trump truce with India.- EndsTune InMust Watch