India accuses EU, US of double standard over Russian trade
India's criticism followed a renewed threat by US President Donald Trump on Monday to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, deepening the trade rift between the two countries. 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".
The US embassy and the EU's delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the US 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 exchange worth 258 billion euros, according to the EU executive European Commission.
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.
India has said it does not support "unilateral sanctions" by the EU.
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 dollars from 86.5 billion dollars 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."
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