My favorite angry Indian journalist, Palki Sharma, is really infuriated today. Apparently the VP's wife was not a signal of closeness to the Trump administration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XYzkd9b1Ws
India has taken off its gloves. No more unofficial comments. No more subtle jibes. New Delhi has decided to directly call out Donald Trump. If you follow India, you know it's rare. Our foreign ministry is very non-confrontational. We rarely criticize our partners. But just like all countries, India too has red lines and President Trump has crossed them. He and his allies have accused India of funding Russia's war. He is also threatening higher tariffs. And I don't mean the 25% tariffs already announced. Trump says he will hike the tariffs again in 24 hours because he claims India is fueling Russia's war machine. At first, New Delhi tolerated it but yesterday the government hit back.
Let me quote from the Indian statement. India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India. The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interest and economic security. India has three main arguments here.
Number one, buying from Russia was not a unilateral decision. It was the result of prevailing politics. When Russia invaded, Europe scaled back energy purchases from Moscow. Instead, they started buying from West Asia. Now this presented a problem because India bought its energy from West Asia too. Imagine if India and Europe competed for the same West Asian oil. What do you think would have happened? The prices would have increased. Consumers across the world would have felt the shock. So what did India do? We decided to buy from Russia.
India balanced the demand and supply in the energy market. At that point even the US was on board. In fact, they encouraged India to buy from Russia. Listen to the former US envoy to New Delhi. They bought Russian oil because we wanted somebody to buy Russian oil at a at a price cap. That was not a violation or anything. It was actually the design of the policy because as a commodity, we didn't want oil prices going up and they fulfilled that. They encouraged in 2024, but they want us to stop in 2025. That's India's first argument.
Number two is the double standard. India has listed out Russia's business with the West. Things like gas purchases, rare earth deals, fertilizers. We'll explain them in detail later on. But the point is this. If you can buy from Russia, why can't we?
Which brings us to the final argument. India says it will protect its national interest and economic security. And this argument is not based on logic or hypocrisy. It is rooted in sovereignty.
India is saying we do not care about your lectures. We have 1.4 billion people to take care of. So we will do what has to be done. And it's not just the foreign ministry. Even the Indian army has joined it. Look at this post by the Eastern Command. It's a newspaper clipping from 1971. It was published in the buildup to the liberation war of Bangladesh. And look at the headline. US arms worth two billion ship to Pakistan since 1954. Now this is a rare jive by the Indian army. Think of it as a reminder to the Americans, a reminder that they armed Pakistan in the last century. Yet we beat them thrice. All these moves make one thing quite clear. India has lost patience with Donald Trump. It does not appreciate his tone or his threats. In fact, even his own allies are questioning his approach.
Like his former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, she points out an obvious flaw in Trump's policy. He is yet to impose tariffs on China. He has given them a 90-day pause. This is the same China that buys oil from Russia, that also buys oil from Iran. Yet, China gets a free pass, but India is targeted. Nikki Haley has questioned this approach. She says Donald Trump should not burn a bridge with a strong ally. But will the US president listen or is it too late? Should we expect India to change its approach? Recent reports do not suggest it. Indian officials say there is no curb on Russian crude even this weekend. At least three ships offloaded Russian crude in India. So there is no plan to shut that tap. And even if there was, India has other options. We import energy from dozens of countries. So there is no reason to worry.
But Russian oil is just one part of Trump's complaints. The bigger issue is tariffs. There is no trade deal between India and the United States. So Trump is imposing 25% tariffs on India. How is New Delhi preparing for that? The government is readying a plan to protect exporters. It is expected to be launched by September that is next month. Its budget will be 20,000 cr rupees. 20,000 cr Indian rupees which is $2.3 billion US dollars. And what will this plan do? It will try to protect Indian exporters from the tariff fallout. We are talking about things like cheaper credit, easier regulation, better logistics and a boost for brand India
The hope is that this will prop up Indian exports. If we can't sell to America maybe we can sell elsewhere. That's the first part of India's plan. The second is to capitalize on the domestic market, the Indian market. We have 1.4 billion people at home. That's more than the combined population of the US and Europe. Yes, the purchasing power is not the same, but the sheer size is significant. If Americans won't buy our goods, maybe we can sell some of them at home. Prime Minister Modi is leading this campaign. He is urging Indians to buy Indian goods. So, New Delhi is trying to cover all its bases. It has not shut the door for talks. It has hit back at unfair criticism and it's also preparing for permanently high tariffs. This strategy requires a whole of nation approach. Let's see if we can pull through.
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