US Democrats panel says ‘Trump 50% tariffs on India won’t stop Putin’
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Saturday countered US President Donald Trump’s claim that tariffs on Indian goods influenced his meeting with Vladimir Putin, stated such measures “won’t stop” Russia.
The statement of Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee came after trump and Putin’s talks in Alaska yielded no result with respect to stop the conflict in Ukraine.
According to the panel, Trump could give Ukraine military aid to punish Putin.
“Imposing tariffs on India won’t stop Putin. If Trump really wanted to address Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, maybe punish Putin and give Ukraine the military aid it needs. Everything else is smoke and mirrors,” the Democratic panel said.
Trump, in an interview with Fox News Radio said that the secondary tariffs on India influenced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to meet him, adding, “Everything has an impact.”
He added that secondary tariffs against India “essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia.”
Trump had put high tariffs amounting to 50% on Indian goods penalizing New Delhi over continued purchase of Russian oil.
He ordered steeper tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
With 50 percent for many products among the highest on any American trading partner.
Trump suggested that the tariffs on India may have influenced Putin’s decision to agree to a meeting. “When you lose your second-largest customer and are likely to lose your biggest one as well, that’s bound to have an impact,” he said.
India Ministry of External Affairs hoped that the relationship between India and the US will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a press conference said “India and the United States share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties. This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges, as we had said earlier.”
“We remain focused on the substantive agenda that the two countries have committed to, and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Jaiswal said.
MEA called the decision “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable”, saying India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
Jaiswal informed that a US defence policy team will soon be visiting New Delhi as both countries continue to strengthen their comprehensive global strategic partnership.
According to the MEA, the defence partnership between both India and the US has strengthened across all domains and the defence procurement continues as per established procedures.
Jaiswal said the joint India-US military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ is expected to take place later this month.
“The India-US defence partnership, underpinned by foundational defence agreements, is an important pillar of the bilateral partnership. This robust cooperation has strengthened across all domains. We are expecting a US defence policy team to be in Delhi in mid-August. The 21st edition of the joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas is also expected to take place later this month in Alaska. Both sides remain engaged to convene the 2+2 Intersessional meeting at the working-level towards the end of this month,” he said.
