Washington: US President Donald Trump once again mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said he doesn’t care what India does with Moscow.
They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care, he said in a fresh social media post, hours after announcing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from India.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” he said.
“We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.
His remarks came a day after slapping India with sweeping trade penalties, chief among them a 25 per cent tariff on nearly all imports. Trump unleashed a blistering tirade against New Delhi’s ties with Moscow, deriding both nations as ‘dead economies’ and brazenly declaring he “does not care” what India does with Russia.
Russia, which was quick to react, did not take it very well. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with (Trump’s) own country,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who had earlier warned that Trump was playing “the ultimatum game” with Russia.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment.
The surprise announcement came a day after Indian officials said that a US trade team would visit from August 25 to negotiate a trade deal.
The announcement is being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US, which has, in recent days, gotten favourable trade deals with major partners like Japan, the UK, and the European Union.
In a social media post, Trump termed India’s trade policies as “most strenuous and obnoxious”.
