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New York Times
14 minutes ago
- New York Times
India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump's Threats, Officials Say
Indian officials said on Saturday that they would keep purchasing cheap oil from Russia despite a threat of penalties from President Trump, the latest twist in an issue that New Delhi thought it had settled. Mr. Trump said last week that as part of his latest round of tariffs, he would impose an unspecified additional penalty on India if it did not cut off its imports of Russian crude oil. On Friday, he appeared to echo reports of a recent dip in the arrival of Russian oil to India. 'I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia,' he told reporters. 'That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens.' But on Saturday, two senior Indian officials said there had been no change in policy. One official said the government had 'not given any direction to oil companies' to cut back imports from Russia. Mr. Trump did not say what the penalty would be if India were to defy his call to cut off Russian oil imports. Some officials and analysts have said that Mr. Trump's focus on India's purchase of Russian oil could be a negotiating tactic as India and the United States try to conclude the early phases of a bilateral trade agreement. China and Turkey, two other major importers of Russian oil, have not faced similar penalties. India has drastically increased its purchases of Russian oil since the war in Ukraine began. Russia is now the source of more than one third of India's oil imports — up from less than one percent before the war. Bringing in more than two million barrels of crude oil a day, India is the second largest importer of Russian oil, after China. New Delhi faced strong pressure in the early months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to cut down on its economic ties with Russia. That pressure continued as Indian oil imports spiked. But by the second year of the war, the tone began to shift on the imports of India, the world's most populous nation. It appeared that India had convinced its American and European allies that its expanded purchase of cheap Russian oil — at a price cap imposed by the European Union and Group of 7 — was good for keeping global oil prices in check. Early last year, senior officials at the U.S. Treasury Department visiting New Delhi said India was working within a formula that was proving effective: Keep Russian oil flowing into the global supply but at a cheap enough price that it would shrink Russia's revenue. 'They bought Russian oil because we wanted somebody to buy Russian oil at a price cap; that was not a violation,' Eric Garcetti, then the U.S. ambassador to New Delhi, said last year. 'It was the design of the policy.'
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
India vows to protect farmers as Trump's 25% tariff threat sparks opposition fury
By Manoj Kumar and Nikunj Ohri NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India vowed on Thursday to protect its labour-intensive agriculture sector, a central sticking point in bogged-down trade talks with the U.S., as Washington threatened 25% tariffs, triggering outrage from the opposition and a slump in the rupee. Without a deal, the rate will go into effect from Friday and single out India for harsher trade conditions than its major peers, potentially damaging the economy of a strategic U.S. partner in Asia seen as a counterbalance to Chinese influence. Though negotiations are continuing, they have hit a wall due to the United States' insistence that India open its agricultural markets. New Delhi has long shielded the sector, which - with over 40% of the workforce engaged in farming activities - constitutes the most influential voting bloc in the world's most populous nation. "The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and (medium and small businesses)," India's trade minister Piyush Goyal said in a statement in the parliament. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview on Thursday that the U.S. trade team was frustrated with India, adding that the future of trade deal between the two nations was now up to India. U.S. President Donald Trump had said on Wednesday that, in addition to the 25% tariff on imports from India, the country would face an unspecified penalty for its dealings with Russia and its membership in the BRICS grouping of nations. "I don't care what India does with Russia," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. "They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care." India's benchmark equity indices, the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, fell as much as 0.9% in early trade before paring losses and both closing around 0.4% lower. The rupee closed 0.2% down at 87.5950 to the dollar after touching its lowest level in more than five months earlier in the day. COOLING RELATIONS The government's failure to clinch an agreement with Trump, even as other major world economies like the European Union, Japan and South Korea have struck deals in recent days, sparked anger among India's political opposition. "The government has destroyed our economic policy, has destroyed our defence policy, has destroyed our foreign policy," opposition leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters on Thursday. Economists warned the steep tariff could hurt India's manufacturing ambitions and trim up to 40 basis points off economic growth in the financial year to March 2026. Some doubted whether further negotiations would lead to improved conditions. "While further trade talks may bring the tariff rate down, it appears unlikely that India will secure a significantly better outcome than its eastern neighbours," said Priyanka Kishore, an economist at Asia Decoded. Other countries have negotiated better U.S. tariff rates, with Vietnam agreeing to 20%, Indonesia to 19% and Japan and the EU both facing levies of 15%. On Wednesday, Trump said Washington had reached a trade deal with India's arch-rival Pakistan that Islamabad said would lead to lower tariffs on its exports, though neither side has yet revealed the agreed rate. Since India's short but deadly conflict with Pakistan in May, New Delhi has been unhappy about Trump's closeness with Islamabad and has protested, casting a shadow over trade talks. Despite previous public displays of bonhomie between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has hardened its stance towards the United States in recent weeks. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire he announced on social media on May 10, but India disputes his claim that it resulted from his intervention and trade threats. The U.S., the world's largest economy, currently has a trade deficit of $45.7 billion with fifth-largest economy India. (Additional reporting by Jaspreet Kalra in Mumbai; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Ros Russell and Joe Bavier) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I no longer identify as Nigerian, Badenoch says
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she no longer identifies as Nigerian and has not renewed her passport since the early 2000s. Badenoch, who was born in the UK, grew up in both Nigeria and the US. She returned to England aged 16 because of Nigeria's worsening political and economic climate, and to continue her education. Speaking on former MP and television presenter Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, she said she was "Nigerian through ancestry" though "by identity, I'm not really". Last year, Badenoch faced criticism from Nigeria's vice president who said she had "denigrated" the West African country. Badenoch, who lived in Lagos, spoke at length about her upbringing on the podcast. "I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I'm very interested in what happens there. But home is where my now family is." On not renewing her passport, she said: "I don't identify with it any more, most of my life has been in the UK and I've just never felt the need to." "I'm Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents... but by identity I'm not really," she added. Badenoch said when she visited the country when her father died she had to get a visa, which was "a big fandango". She said her early experiences in Nigeria shaped her political outlook, including "why I don't like socialism". As a child "I remember never quite feeling that I belonged there", she went on, saying she recalled "coming back to the UK in 1996 thinking this is home". At the end of last year, Badenoch was criticised for saying she had grown up in fear and insecurity in Nigeria, which was plagued by corruption. The country's vice president Kashim Shettima responded, saying his government was "proud" of Badenoch "in spite of her efforts at denigrating her nation of origin". A spokesperson for Badenoch rebuffed the criticism. Badenoch stands by Nigeria comments after criticism
