Trade barriers: India and US talks continue, says Trump
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After several contradictory statements from him and his acolytes, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that India and America are “continuing negotiations” to address trade barriers, the media reported.
His latest statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to skip the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting later this month. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting in New York.
In what appeared as a ‘climbdown’ to restore the bilateral relations, Trump said he feels “certain” that there will be “no difficulty” for the two countries to come to a “successful conclusion” in trade talks and he looks forward to speaking with his “very good friend” PM Modi in the coming weeks.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, the US President said he was “pleased to announce that India, and the United States of America, are continuing negotiations to address the Trade Barriers between our two Nations.”
“I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks. I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our Great Countries!” he said.
His comments appear to signal a thaw in bilateral relations as ties between the two countries reeled under possibly the worst phase in over two decades amid tensions over tariffs and New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.
In August, Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 percent, including a 25 percent additional import duty for India’s continuing purchase of Russian crude oil.
India described the US action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”
After months of critical rhetoric against India, Trump had last week said that India and the US have a “special relationship” and there’s nothing to worry about as the two countries “just have moments on occasion.”
“I always will. I’ll always be friends with Modi. He’s a great Prime Minister. He’s great. I’ll always be friends, but I just don’t like what he’s doing at this particular moment,” Trump had said in the Oval Office last Friday.
“But India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump said, with a smile.
He had also said that he is “very disappointed” that India would be buying so much oil from Russia.
“…I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil… from Russia, and I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 percent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with Modi, he’s great. He was here a couple of months ago,” he said in response to a question on his social media post that the US has “lost India and Russia to China.”
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ironically, Europe has been buying the same Russian crude refined as oil from India!
In the Truth Social post, Trump had said that “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
The US President had also posted an old photo of Prime Minister Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The post came days after the bonhomie among PM Modi, Xi and Putin at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin drew global attention.
Responding to the comments, PM Modi on Saturday last week said that he deeply appreciates Trump’s positive assessment of India-US relations.
“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,” he said.
“India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership,” he added.
