'US has just lost India': Sushant Sareen hits out as Trump targets New Delhi over Russian oil

The US has just lost India, declared security analyst Sushant Sareen on Monday, hours after President Donald Trump threatened steep new tariffs on Indian exports, accusing New Delhi of profiting from Russian oil and ignoring the Ukraine war.

"Even if these Trump Tantrum Tariffs end, who in India will trust the US anymore?" Sareen wrote in a post. "Meanwhile, prime up your missiles and other offensive & defensive capabilities. Pakis will be itching to try their luck."

Trump's latest attack came via a social media post in which he said: "India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA."

Last week, Trump had warned that India and Russia could take their "dead economies down together," prompting a sharp response from New Delhi, which said India remains the world's fastest-growing major economy. The US President's executive order, now being implemented by the White House, includes a 25% tariff on Indian goods. 

Trump also said, "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine - All things not good!"

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) strongly rebutted the claims in a statement, saying, "India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability."

The MEA added that India's imports were meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. "They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion."

Citing European Union data, India pointed out that EU-Russia bilateral trade in goods alone stood at €67.5 billion in 2024, with another €17.2 billion in services in 2023. "European imports of LNG in 2024 reached a record 16.5 million tonnes, surpassing the previous record of 15.21 million tonnes in 2022," MEA said. It added that trade included not just energy, but "fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery and transport equipment."

The MEA further stated that the US continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals. "In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security."

Evan A Feigenbaum, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, said that Trump was tanking the India-US relationship built over 25 years. "The re-politicization of US-India ties is a slow-motion catastrophe. And it is happening on both sides, including in Washington, in ways that risk undoing 25 years of painstakingly built progress," he wrote on X.

Feigenbaum added: "After more than two decades of bipartisan effort to transform the relationship between New Delhi and Washington, including during his own first term, US President Donald Trump is now in the process of dismantling this painstakingly built relationship. I was the deputy assistant secretary of State handling US-India ties at a time when many worked to depoliticize relations. That's now being reversed, with consequences that could be catastrophic."