Trump Pushes Key Defense Partner Into Russia and China's Orbit
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President Donald Trump's simmering trade feud with India, a key U.S. economic and defense partner, has raised fears that New Delhi could be pushed deeper into Russia and China's orbit.
Trump imposed a 25-percent tariff of all Indian goods coming into the United States from August 1 as well as an unspecified extra penalty for India's continued purchase of Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department and India's External Affairs Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Although historically close with Russia, India's rise as a regional power has seen it effectively balance competing geopolitical interests between the East and West. Its economic relations with China and security ties to Russia have not stopped it from purchasing big-ticket items of military hardware from the United States.
Trump's hardline trade stance, however, risks straining the delicate U.S.-India defense relationship, which has blossomed in recent years in a sign of India's geostrategic importance to the United States amid its rivalry with China. Any slight could make New Delhi even less willing to openly back Washington politically and on regional security.
Comments by Moscow and Beijing welcoming the revival the Russia-India-China bloc known as RIC could at the very least pose a symbolic challenge to the United States if it leads to more coordinated action by the three nuclear powers on global diplomatic, economic and security issues. It could also dilute India's membership of the QUAD group alongside the United States, Japan and Australia.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 22, 2024.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 22, 2024.
ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
What To Know
Trump said on Wednesday that, despite the penalties, trade talks with India were ongoing. He also said U.S.-India trade volumes were already low due to India's own tariffs on foreign imports.
India was examining the impact of Trump's proposed tariffs and would protect the interests of its workers, farmers and entrepreneurs, according to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Analysts said the U.S. approach could backfire. "The US is pushing India & China to deepen normalisation, giving India strong reason to seriously consider revitalising the RIC," Sana Hashmi, a foreign policy researcher the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, wrote on X.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar praised improving relations between the two countries in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart earlier this month.
Earlier this month, Trump also threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on any countries aligned with the BRICS group of nations. The bloc of developing nations—led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—condemned Trump's "indiscriminate" tariffs at a leader summit in early July.
What People Are Saying
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.
"Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let's keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!"
Indian lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, chair of India's parliamentary external affairs committee, told reporters: "If we can't compete in America, we may have to diversify our markets outside of America. We are not out of options. If America is completely unreasonable with its demands, we have to move elsewhere."
What Happens Next
Negotiators for the United States and India said they hoped to reach an agreement soon.
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