'Why are we being singled out?': Shashi Tharoor questions Trump's hypocrisy after US imposes 50% tariff on India
Taking aim at Trump's hypocrisy, Shashi Tharoor mentioned China and EU's purchases of Russian oil and gas as well as the US' imports from Russia.
- Aug 7, 2025,
- Updated Aug 7, 2025 1:55 PM IST
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday had a word of advice for the Modi government after US President Donald Trump levied an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for its purchase of Russian oil. Tharoor asked why the US singled out India on the issue of Russian oil imports when China, the European Union (EU), and the US import much more from Russia compared to India.
"Why is India being singled out when China, America and the EU are doing the same thing that we are doing?" he asked. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said in an exclusive interaction with India Today that India should give Trump a taste of his own medicine.
Taking aim at Trump's hypocrisy, Shashi Tharoor mentioned China and EU's purchases of Russian oil and gas as well as the US' imports from Russia.
"Secondly, China has been given a 90-day grace period. They buy far more Russian oil and gas than we do. Thirdly, the European Union has got no such threat, and they also buy Russian oil and gas. Fourthly, America itself buys other items from Russia. America buys uranium hexachloride, America buys palladium, America buys various materials from the Russians. So that money is not going to be used against Ukraine, but our money will be used against Ukraine. This is absolutely unjust and we'll have to stand up against it."
Besides this, Tharoor said that India should engage with other markets such as the European Union (EU) and others, given the recent free trade agreements (FTAs) that India has signed so far.
"I am very firmly of the view that in the next 3 weeks, our negotiators should make it very clear how unfair this is, and this is not acceptable. We are not a nation that goes around issuing threats," he added.
He also said that the Centre should consider imposing reciprocal tariffs on the US if that is where Trump wants the India-US relationship to look like.
"Apart from diversifying into other markets, which is very important for us to do, we should make it very clear to our American friends that if they're going to apply 50 per cent to us, the day they do that, our current tariffs on America which is only an average of 17 per cent will also go up to 50 per cent."
He further explained that India's purchase of Russian oil and energy is being done in the open market and is well within the respectful rules while observing the Russian price cap.
In stark contrast to Tharoor's take, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the Modi government for what he termed a foreign policy disaster, claiming the administration did not secure a favourable trade deal with the United States.
Kharge remarked, "We all knew about it. You did nothing in the Union Budget to soften the blow on our key sectors such as agriculture, MSMEs and various industries." He added, "You failed to negotiate a trade deal with the US. You had more than 6th months. Now Mr. Trump is intimidating and coercing us."
Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stance, saying, "Narendra Modi ji, you kept mum when Trump claimed that he brokered the ceasefire."
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday had a word of advice for the Modi government after US President Donald Trump levied an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for its purchase of Russian oil. Tharoor asked why the US singled out India on the issue of Russian oil imports when China, the European Union (EU), and the US import much more from Russia compared to India.
"Why is India being singled out when China, America and the EU are doing the same thing that we are doing?" he asked. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said in an exclusive interaction with India Today that India should give Trump a taste of his own medicine.
Taking aim at Trump's hypocrisy, Shashi Tharoor mentioned China and EU's purchases of Russian oil and gas as well as the US' imports from Russia.
"Secondly, China has been given a 90-day grace period. They buy far more Russian oil and gas than we do. Thirdly, the European Union has got no such threat, and they also buy Russian oil and gas. Fourthly, America itself buys other items from Russia. America buys uranium hexachloride, America buys palladium, America buys various materials from the Russians. So that money is not going to be used against Ukraine, but our money will be used against Ukraine. This is absolutely unjust and we'll have to stand up against it."
Besides this, Tharoor said that India should engage with other markets such as the European Union (EU) and others, given the recent free trade agreements (FTAs) that India has signed so far.
"I am very firmly of the view that in the next 3 weeks, our negotiators should make it very clear how unfair this is, and this is not acceptable. We are not a nation that goes around issuing threats," he added.
He also said that the Centre should consider imposing reciprocal tariffs on the US if that is where Trump wants the India-US relationship to look like.
"Apart from diversifying into other markets, which is very important for us to do, we should make it very clear to our American friends that if they're going to apply 50 per cent to us, the day they do that, our current tariffs on America which is only an average of 17 per cent will also go up to 50 per cent."
He further explained that India's purchase of Russian oil and energy is being done in the open market and is well within the respectful rules while observing the Russian price cap.
In stark contrast to Tharoor's take, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the Modi government for what he termed a foreign policy disaster, claiming the administration did not secure a favourable trade deal with the United States.
Kharge remarked, "We all knew about it. You did nothing in the Union Budget to soften the blow on our key sectors such as agriculture, MSMEs and various industries." He added, "You failed to negotiate a trade deal with the US. You had more than 6th months. Now Mr. Trump is intimidating and coercing us."
Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stance, saying, "Narendra Modi ji, you kept mum when Trump claimed that he brokered the ceasefire."