Russia Slams Trump’s ‘Illegal Threats’ To India: ‘Nations Have Right To Choose Trade Partners’

<p>Russia has strongly criticised the United States for what it termed as &ldquo;illegal&rdquo; trade coercion, after US President Donald Trump once again threatened to impose tariffs on India due to its ongoing purchase of Russian oil.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal,&rdquo; Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Reuters.&nbsp;Peskov further asserted that sovereign nations retain the right to independently choose their trade and economic partners. &ldquo;We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners&hellip; that are in the interests of a particular country,&rdquo; he added.</p>
<p>Trump has warned that beginning Friday, he will push for new sanctions on Moscow as well as on nations continuing to import its energy exports, unless Russia shows intent to end the prolonged war with Ukraine.</p>
<h3><strong>New Delhi Calls Trump Tariff Threat &lsquo;Unjustified&rsquo;</strong></h3>
<p>Reacting to Trump&rsquo;s threats, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the targeting of India as “unjustified and unreasonable”. According to Reuters, two government sources stated over the weekend that India remains firm on its energy policy, despite the US pressure.</p>
<p>The New York Times also reported that Indian authorities have reiterated their commitment to economic interests. The report highlighted growing frustration within the Modi government about the increasingly unpredictable nature of US foreign policy under Trump&rsquo;s leadership.</p>
<p>Trump, while addressing reporters, claimed, &ldquo;I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia&hellip; That&rsquo;s what I heard. I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens.&rdquo;</p>
<p>However, two senior Indian officials told The New York Times that there had been no such directive from the government to halt or reduce Russian oil imports.</p>
<p>At a press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal did not directly address Trump&rsquo;s comments but maintained India&rsquo;s position. &ldquo;Our bilateral relationships with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country,&rdquo; Jaiswal said. &ldquo;India and Russia have a steady and time-tested partnership.&rdquo;</p>
<h3><strong>Selective Targeting of India?</strong></h3>
<p>According to the The New York Times, observers in New Delhi suggested that the pressure on India might have more to do with Washington&rsquo;s frustration over Moscow&rsquo;s stance on Ukraine than any specific concern about India. They also questioned the effectiveness of targeting India while other major importers like China and Turkey continue to buy Russian oil without facing similar repercussions.</p>
<p>Pankaj Saran, Deputy National Security Adviser and Ambassador to Russia, told The New York Times, &ldquo;What we also have to keep in mind is that even if India may cut to zero, China is not going to. You will have a kind of a bizarre situation where Russia will sell to China at cheap prices, and so you would have China being the ultimate beneficiary.&rdquo;</p>
<p>India now sources over a third of its oil imports from Russia, a significant rise from under 1 per cent before the Ukraine invasion, as per NYT’s report. Officials noted that the country&rsquo;s participation in buying Russian oil at discounted rates under the G7-EU price cap was in line with Western objectives to maintain stable global oil prices.</p>
<p>Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador to India, had remarked last year, &ldquo;They bought Russian oil because we wanted somebody to buy Russian oil at a price cap; that was not a violation&hellip; It was actually the design of the policy.&rdquo;</p>
<h3><strong>India&rsquo;s Energy Security Dilemma</strong></h3>
<p>India&rsquo;s dependency on crude imports for nearly 90 per cent of its energy requirements leaves it highly vulnerable to external pressures. As per the NYT, a senior official pointed out that US actions had previously forced India to halt oil imports from Iran and Venezuela, despite incurring financial losses.&nbsp;The official recalled that during Trump&rsquo;s earlier tenure, India stopped importing from Iran to preserve its relations with Washington, even though it was not economically viable.</p>
<p>Replacing Russian oil may also be costly, as alternatives like Saudi Arabia charge Asian buyers a premium. Moreover, India had invested significantly in Venezuelan oil assets, which were jeopardised due to the US sanctions &mdash; only for those sanctions to be relaxed and then reimposed.</p>
<p>Saran concluded that the government is likely to adopt a cautious approach. &ldquo;Given how sensitive the domestic economy is to oil prices, you have to ensure that you not just get diverse sources of imports but also, you know, the cheapest,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is, in a sense, a national security imperative.&rdquo;</p>