India on Wednesday hit back at the United States for doubling the tariff to 50 per cent, reiterating that the action was “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”. The government said it would take “all actions necessary” to “protect its national interests”.
“The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest,” said the statement, in a reference to Europe and China also buying energy from Russia but not facing any consequences. “We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests,” the MEA statement said.
On Monday, too, soon after US President Donald Trump warned that he would raise the tariff on India “substantially” for buying Russian oil, the MEA had said the targeting of India was “unjustified and unreasonable”, adding that the country would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its “national interests and economic security”.
Pointing out “the double standards”, India had said that both the US and the EU were continuing their trade relations with Russia. “Where the US is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals,” the MEA had said in a statement.
“It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion (for them),” it had said.
According to estimates, since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow earned Euro 923 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports. The EU countries are estimated to have accounted for over Euro 212 billion of these exports.
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Such strong statements are rare between India and US. The situation presents the biggest diplomatic challenge for New Delhi on its ties with Washington since the 1998 nuclear tests when the US had imposed sanctions against India.
Sources said that while the government is keeping its door open for negotiations, it is also looking at a range of options, including subsidies to keep Indian products competitive in the international market.
Sources pointed out that India has about three weeks to negotiate with the American interlocutors, during which high-level conversations are expected to take place. The Indian mission in Washington DC will be reaching out to the US establishment to discuss the situation and see how they can overcome the crisis, sources said.
