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16-08-2025
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: India said on Thursday that it hoped relations with the United States would move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests, seeking to temper worries that ties were headed downhill in the aftermath of high tariffs imposed by Washington.
A US defence policy team will be in New Delhi this month for talks with Indian officials and its arms purchases from the US are on course despite the strain in ties, the Indian foreign ministry said.
A new friendship built between the two countries has hit a rough patch after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last week from an earlier 25% saying it was a penalty for India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
New Delhi has accused the US of double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports and called the tariffs unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.
At the same time, it has also indicated that the warming of ties that began at the turn of the century covers a wide range of areas and should not be seen only through the prism of trade, although it hopes that trade talks will continue and result in a deal.
“This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges…and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.
Purchases of military equipment from Washington were on course, Jaiswal said, adding that a US defence policy team was expected in Delhi this month.
Reuters reported last week that India has put on hold its plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft and that a planned trip to Washington by the Indian defence minister had been cancelled.
The Indian government subsequently said reports of a pause in the talks were wrong.
India pauses plans to buy US arms after Trump’s tariffs
New Delhi has put on hold its plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft, according to three Indian officials familiar with the matter, in India’s first concrete sign of discontent after tariffs imposed on its exports by President Donald Trump dragged ties to their lowest level in decades.
India had been planning to send Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement on some of the purchases but that trip has been cancelled, two of the people said.
Trump on Aug. 6 imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods as punishment for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, which he said meant the country was funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That raised the total duty on Indian exports to 50% – among the highest of any US trading partner.
The president has a history of rapidly reversing himself on tariffs and India has said it remains actively engaged in discussions with Washington. One of the people said the defence purchases could go ahead once India had clarity on tariffs and the direction of bilateral ties, but “just not as soon as they were expected to.”
Written instructions had not been given to pause the purchases, another official said, indicating that Delhi had the option to quickly reverse course, though there was “no forward movement at least for now.”
Post publication of this story, India’s government issued a statement it attributed to a Ministry of Defence source describing news reports of a pause in the talks as “false and fabricated.” The statement also said procurement was progressing as per “extant procedures.”
