President Donald Trump said there was “nothing to worry about” in his relationship with India, even as the US pushed forward with a 50% tariff on many goods from the country to punish New Delhi for purchases of Russian energy.
Trump said Friday he would always be friends with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but that he did not “like what he’s doing at this particular moment.”
“India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump said.
Modi later responded that he appreciated Trump’s positive assessment of ties between two countries and it was reciprocated.
Trump’s relatively positive comments about India come even as formal negotiations between Washington and New Delhi on a trade deal to reduce the tariff level have stalled. The US president this week expressed anger at Modi for attending a summit in China alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Modi was quick to jump on Trump’s comments, even after signaling earlier this week that New Delhi’s ties with Moscow remain firm despite relentless pressure from the US.
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“India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership,” Modi wrote in a post on X.
Trump this week said India had offered to cut its tariffs on US goods to zero but indicated the alleged concession might have come too late in the talks.
On Friday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg Television it was “ridiculous” that India continued to buy oil from Russia despite the ongoing conflict with Ukraine and that the country needed to pick a side.
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“Either support the dollar, support the United States of America, support your biggest client, who is the American consumer, or, I guess you’re going to pay a 50% tariff,” Lutnick said on Bloomberg Television’s Surveillance.
Formal talks between New Delhi and Washington are on pause after a US team canceled its trip to India in August.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal this week said negotiations with the US on the trade deal should be allowed to continue and that there was no need to “panic” over the delay.
“We continue to have very good relations with the US, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to resolve some of these issues and come to an equitable, fair and balanced agreement,” Goyal said in an interview with news agency ANI.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Modi attaches “enormous importance” to India’s partnership with the US.
Modi “has always had a very good personal equation with President Trump,” he said in a statement on Saturday. “The point is that we remain engaged with the US.”
