Trump cites 'secondary sanctions' on India as proof of tough stance on Russia

Washington, Sep 3 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Wednesday highlighted his “secondary sanctions” on India as proof of its tough stance against Russia.

While speaking to the press alongside Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Trump pushed back against criticism of his inaction on Russia, arguing that his measures against India demonstrated otherwise.

“How do you know there's no action? Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China, is almost equal? Would you say there was no action that cost hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia? If you remember, two weeks ago, I did, I said, if India buys, India's got big problems, and that's what happened,” he replied.

Trump also hinted at expanding secondary sanctions in future. “I haven't done phase two yet or phase three,” he quipped without clarifying if he would target other big purchasers of Russian oil like China.

The Trump administration has singled out India and slapped an additional tariff of 25 per cent for buying Russian oil and increasing the total levies to 50 per cent, a treatment that India calls “unfair and unjustified.”

Trump, in an interview with Scott Jennings on Tuesday, claimed that New Delhi had offered him “no tariffs in India anymore.”

“They've (India) offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs. If I didn't have tariffs, they would never make that offer,” he said.

Earlier in a news conference on Tuesday, Trump had also reiterated his complaints against India’s trade practices, calling the India-US relationship “one-sided for many years” and pointing to high tariffs as a barrier to American exports.

“We get along with India very well,” Trump said. “But India, you have to understand, for many years, it was a one-sided relationship,” he added.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday confirmed that India and the US are still negotiating a trade deal and could conclude a “bilateral trade agreement by the fall, November or so.”

--IANS

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