‘Implies reducing India to semi-colonised status’: Ex-envoy on Trump tariffs’ extremely objectionable connotations
The damage done by Trump to India-US ties, will not be repaired easily, said career diplomat Kanwal Sibal.
- Aug 7, 2025,
- Updated Aug 7, 2025 10:51 AM IST
Donald Trump’s imposition of 25 per cent additional tariffs on Indian goods – a form of punishment, to say – for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil has “extremely objectionable connotations”, said career diplomat and former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. He said it appears to indicate that India’s foreign policy must be dictated by the US.
“Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25% tariff on India for buying Russian oil has extremely objectionable connotations. It implies reducing India to a semi-colonised status whose foreign policy choices should be controlled by the US. It means not treating India as a fully sovereign country,” he said.
The damage done by Trump to India-US ties, will not be repaired easily, he added. Trump is possibly appealing to his political voter base with his hardened posture towards India. There’s a danger to that too, he said – “the more Trump and his advisers make India an issue of domestic politics, the more it will complicate the future of bilateral ties”.
In a separate tweet, Sibal said India has sovereign interests that it has to defend. Referring to Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman’s analysis on news agency ANI, where he said it is likely the tariffs were the outcome of India denying the credit to Trump for the India-Pakistan ceasefire, Sibal said, “Why play the charade of giving false credit for a ceasefire based on trade threats and one announced over the head of India’s leader, creating thereby impression India was pressured to agree?”
“Trump can keep assailing India as a tariff king, threaten tariffs, talk of his interest in mediating the Kashmir issue but Modi dare not tell him what’s right and what’s wrong? Chinese spokespersons day in and day out speak disparagingly of the US, talk down at it, express defiance. Yet, Trump is delaying imposing tariffs on China,” he said.
Sibal’s assessments come after Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on India, thereby taking the overall tariffs to 50 per cent. Trump and his administration have blamed India for financing Russia’s war against Ukraine, as New Delhi decided to continue purchasing Russian oil. However, it is not only India, the US still has imports going in to the country. The European Union and China also import Russian oil and gas.
India, pointing out the unfairness of the treatment by Washington, called out its decision as “unfair”.
Donald Trump’s imposition of 25 per cent additional tariffs on Indian goods – a form of punishment, to say – for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil has “extremely objectionable connotations”, said career diplomat and former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. He said it appears to indicate that India’s foreign policy must be dictated by the US.
“Trump’s decision to impose an additional 25% tariff on India for buying Russian oil has extremely objectionable connotations. It implies reducing India to a semi-colonised status whose foreign policy choices should be controlled by the US. It means not treating India as a fully sovereign country,” he said.
The damage done by Trump to India-US ties, will not be repaired easily, he added. Trump is possibly appealing to his political voter base with his hardened posture towards India. There’s a danger to that too, he said – “the more Trump and his advisers make India an issue of domestic politics, the more it will complicate the future of bilateral ties”.
In a separate tweet, Sibal said India has sovereign interests that it has to defend. Referring to Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman’s analysis on news agency ANI, where he said it is likely the tariffs were the outcome of India denying the credit to Trump for the India-Pakistan ceasefire, Sibal said, “Why play the charade of giving false credit for a ceasefire based on trade threats and one announced over the head of India’s leader, creating thereby impression India was pressured to agree?”
“Trump can keep assailing India as a tariff king, threaten tariffs, talk of his interest in mediating the Kashmir issue but Modi dare not tell him what’s right and what’s wrong? Chinese spokespersons day in and day out speak disparagingly of the US, talk down at it, express defiance. Yet, Trump is delaying imposing tariffs on China,” he said.
Sibal’s assessments come after Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on India, thereby taking the overall tariffs to 50 per cent. Trump and his administration have blamed India for financing Russia’s war against Ukraine, as New Delhi decided to continue purchasing Russian oil. However, it is not only India, the US still has imports going in to the country. The European Union and China also import Russian oil and gas.
India, pointing out the unfairness of the treatment by Washington, called out its decision as “unfair”.