India hopes that US President Donald Trump will understand the importance of the strategic partnership and open the way for trade talks between the two countries, an Indian government source was quoted as saying by TASS.
“We hope that Trump will understand our strategic partnership, our sincerity and open a dialogue for trade talks“, the source said. He recalled that India's traditional approach to foreign policy is based on the principle of “friendship with all“. “We should not have enemies anywhere.“ “This is our basic approach“, he said.
On August 16, the Indian newspaper The Financial Express reported that US negotiators had canceled a planned for a trip to New Delhi at the end of August for the sixth round of discussions on the trade agreement between India and the United States. The visit of the American delegation was supposed to begin on August 25 and continue until August 30. These consultations were expected to be key to easing trade tensions. The newspaper's source noted that India could not stop buying oil from Russia, given the “large difference in monetary terms“.
On August 6, the United States announced an increase in import duties from India by 25% (up to 50%) in connection with the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products. Trump criticized the republic for “always buying most of its military equipment from Russia“ and being “along with China“ the largest buyer“ of Russian energy resources. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs called the attacks by the US and the EU over the import of Russian oil... unjustified.
After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump acknowledged that Washington would not impose import tariffs on Russia's trading partners.