New Delhi: The US has called on India to stop purchasing weapons from Russia and highlighted India’s role in BRICS, apart from the issue of tariffs, as a potential irritant to New Delhi-Washington ties.
“India has historically bought significant amounts of its military from Russia, and we think that is something that needs to end. India is the ‘I’ in BRICS, trying to create a currency to replace the dollar as the global economic currency. These kinds of things do not create the love and affection that we really, deeply feel towards India. We would like those things to end,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Friday at the India Today Conclave.
Lutnick also raised the long-standing issue of India’s high tariffs on products from the US, calling for fairer trade between the two countries.
Under President Donald Trump, the US has of late been calling for India to purchase more American-made security platforms, mainly to reduce the trade deficit. Trump has also criticised attempts by the BRICS members to look at an alternative to the US dollar as an international medium of exchange.
Trump raised the issue on a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year. Last month, during Modi’s visit to the White House, the US President reiterated the need for India to purchase American defence platforms, going so far as to announce that Washington was willing to look at potential sales of the F35 fighter jets to New Delhi.
India announced the purchase of six additional P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, as well as several joint initiatives, during Modi’s visit to the US, with the joint production of underwater surveillance equipment one of the key projects under consideration now.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday downplayed any move by the members of BRICS to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency, pointing out that there is no unified position within the grouping.
The grouping has Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia, besides India.
For countries like Russia and Iran, an alternative to the US dollar is key, given the number of economic sanctions in place by Washington, which have severely curtailed their access to global financial markets.
Another major irritant for the US is its trade deficit with India. In 2023-2024, India exported roughly $77 billion worth of goods to the US while importing only $42.1 billion worth of goods from the North American country.
For Trump, deficits are a huge issue, with the US President signing orders to impose additional tariffs on products from countries such as Canada and Mexico while promising to impose reciprocal tariffs starting 2 April this year.
India has agreed to a multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement on goods and services with the US, with the announcement of the first tranche expected by 2025 fall. Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal was in the US earlier this week and met with Lutnick to discuss the potential trade deal.
India’s tariffs on automobiles and agricultural products have been a sticking point for the US. In the past, Trump has described India as the “tariff king”. So far, it is unclear if Trump will announce the reciprocal sanctions on India, given that negotiations are ongoing for a bilateral deal.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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Vishwaguru is being preached
US weapons are prohibitively expensive and comes with lot of restrictions. India needs weaponry to suit our needs with guaranteed supply chains for spares. USA does not give any assurance on that and would manipulate supplies in future. India has long standing relationship with Russia who are willing for tech transfer and co -manufacturing in India. This would ensure that supply chain have stability as many weapons have atleast 25 to 30 years service life with good maintenance. USA has no takers doe their very expensive weaponry which only oil rich nations can acquire.
US se aaya mera dost
Dost ko salam karo
US me rat ko khavo pivo
Rat ko india me nafarat felavo