Trump Urges India to Halt Russian Oil, Threatens Hefty Tariffs
US President Donald Trump has again pressured India to halt oil imports from Russia. He claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him to stop buying Russian oil. However, India denied any such conversation. Trump asserted that if India continued purchases, it would continue to pay "massive tariffs" from the US.
Russian oil has become a major sticking point in ongoing US-India trade negotiations. Trump has accused these purchases of oil of funding Russia's war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, data from the Kpler company shows that India's imports of Russian oil are expected to rise 20% this month, to around 1.9 million barrels per day—indicating no significant reductions.
The Indian government itself has stated that its primary focus is protecting the interests of domestic consumers, particularly in energy. Although a White House official said India has halved its purchases of Russian oil, sources in India said the reduction is not yet visible and will likely only be reflected in import data in December or January. These tensions are expected to complicate trade negotiations between the two countries in the near future.
Source: Newsmaker.id
