Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 6) admitted strain tariffs have placed on his equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said Modi is unhappy over the high duties imposed on India for buying Russian oil, even though their personal rapport is cordial.
Addressing the House GOP Member Retreat, the US president talked about his conversations with PM Modi that covered US defence sales, trade and tariff decisions. He said the relationship is friendly, but the tariff issue linked to India’s energy purchases has clearly unsettled New Delhi.
“… I have a very good relationship with PM Modi, but he is not happy with me as India is paying high tariffs. But now they have reduced it very substantially, buying oil from Russia,” Trump said.
The tariffs, which total 50 percent, were imposed after Washington flagged India’s large-scale imports of Russian crude. The US administration views these purchases as indirectly supporting Russia’s economy during the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trump’s comments came a day after he warned that the United States could raise tariffs further if India fails to respond to American concerns over Russian oil imports.
“They wanted to make me happy, basically. Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” he told the gathering.
During his speech, Trump also defended the tariff policy, arguing that the measures have brought financial gains to the United States.
The statements follow a series of public warnings from Trump directed at New Delhi over its continued energy trade with Moscow. In earlier statements, he said tariffs could go even higher if India does not “help on the Russian oil issue”, directly linking trade pressure to the Russia-Ukraine war.
He has repeatedly accused India of strengthening Moscow by purchasing discounted Russian crude and has cited this as the justification for higher duties on Indian goods. He has also indicated that tariff pressure was used as a tool to influence India’s decisions, suggesting New Delhi understood his displeasure and moved to protect broader trade ties.
Trump has projected himself as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. So far, those discussions have not produced any major breakthrough.
For its part, India has previously rejected Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Modi assured him New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil. Indian officials clarified that no such conversation or commitment ever took place.
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