United States President Donald Trump has said his threat to impose a 200% tariff on exports from one of the two South Asian countries was crucial to stopping the India-Pakistan war. He claimed to have been in contact with both regarding the deal.
“We’ve stopped a lot of these wars through trade. For example, India and Pakistan have been really tough on it. Seven planes have been grounded…Bad things were happening and I talked to both of them about trade…I said we’re not going to do a trade deal unless they stop the war,” Trump said, according to ANI.
He added: “I called him and said, listen, we’re going to put a 200% tariff on your country on any product that you sell to the United States if you don’t stop this war… I’ve talked to the leaders of both nations. I like them both. But I said that’s the way it is and they’ll call me the next day, we’ve decided to de-escalate the war, we’re not going to stop… We’ve decided not to stop the war.”
Trump hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great man” and said they had a “great relationship”. The two spoke last week to review trade talks and PM Modi said “good progress” had been made in the talks.
Purchases of Russian oil in India
Trump has called on India to buy Russian oil, arguing that it supports President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. However, India has defended imports as essential to maintaining the country’s energy security.
“If India doesn’t buy oil, it’s much easier. And they will go back to buying oil after the war is over,” Trump said. As Indian refiners continued to source oil from Russia, New Delhi made further trade concessions to Washington, including an offer to lift tariffs on US auto parts and steel, provided the Trump administration does the same in return, according to AFP.
Relations between the US and India have become increasingly strained following Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian goods, a measure he described as retaliation for New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil. Tensions further escalated when the administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new applications for H-1B visas, a program heavily relied upon by Indian tech professionals seeking employment in the United States.
(With input from agencies)
