New York/Washington: Warning India of fresh tariffs over purchase of oil from Russia, United States’ President Donald Trump has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew “I was not happy” with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”.
Trump made the remarks while talking to reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One en route to Washington DC from Florida.
“They (India) 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. They do trade and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly. It would be very bad for them,” Trump said.
His remarks came after US Senator Lindsey Graham, accompanying him on Air Force One, said that the tariffs imposed on India by Trump are the “chief reason” New Delhi is now buying substantially less Russian oil.
Graham spoke about his tariff bill that seeks to impose 500% levies on imports from countries buying Russian oil. He said that to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, pressure must be put on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s customers.
Trump said that the sanctions are hurting Russia very badly and then mentioned India. Graham then said that the US put a 25% tariff on India for purchasing Russian oil.
“I was at the Indian Ambassador’s house about a month ago, and all he wanted to talk about was how they are buying less Russian oil,” Graham said. He added that the Indian envoy conveyed to him, “Would you tell the President to relieve the tariff?”
There were no immediate comments from Indian officials on Graham’s claim.
Kwatra last month hosted some US Senators, including Graham, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Peter Welch, Dan Sullivan and Markwayne Mullin at India House, the official residence of the Ambassador of India in Washington, DC.
Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on India, the highest in the world, including 25% for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil. India buys about 88% of its crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel, from overseas.
Russian oil made up hardly 0.2% of all crude oil that India imported till 2021. After Moscow invaded Ukraine, Russian oil was available at a discount to international benchmarks due to Western sanctions, and was quickly lapped up by Indian refiners.
According to real-time data analytics company Kpler, Russian crude imports into India are expected to fall to around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, down from 1.84 million bpd in November, marking the lowest level since December 2022.
Indian refiners continue to buy Russian crude from non-sanctioned entities.
India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, became the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western countries shunned Moscow following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India sharply ramped up Russian imports as sanctions and reduced European demand made barrels available at steep discounts, pushing its share from under 1% to nearly 40% of total crude imports.
In December, Russia remained India’s top supplier, but its share fell to less than a quarter of all oil imports from about a third in November.
