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2 days ago
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ARTICLE AD BOX
On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China’s Tianjin, the United States Embassy in New Delhi Monday called the India-US partnership “a defining relationship of the 21st century”.
In a post on X, the Embassy put up a statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which said, “The enduring friendship between our two peoples is the bedrock of our cooperation and propels us forward as we realise the tremendous potential of our economic relationship.” Rubio made the statement in January this year.
The post by the Embassy said, “The partnership between the United States and India continues to reach new heights — a defining relationship of the 21st century.”
“This month, we’re spotlighting the people, progress, and possibilities driving us forward. From innovation and entrepreneurship to defence and bilateral ties, it’s the enduring friendship between our two peoples that fuels this journey,” it added, with a hashtag #USIndiaFWDforOurPeople.
The US Embassy’s post came within hours of photos from Tianjin showing Modi with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Modi Monday and welcomed peace efforts towards ending the war in Ukraine, and confirmed that Putin will travel to India in December this year.
While the Embassy statement also mentions defence and bilateral ties, the two countries recently discussed energy security and an increase in defence cooperation under the India-US 2+2 Dialogue framework.
As per a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last week, India and the US “looked forward to increasing defence cooperation, including signing a new 10-year Framework for the India–US Major Defence Partnership, as well as advancing defence industrial, science, and technology cooperation; operational coordination; regional cooperation; and information-sharing”.
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Fallout of US tariffs on India
Ties between New Delhi and Washington have been strained in recent weeks over the US imposing a heavy 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty tariff for importing Russian oil.
The bilateral trade agreement between the two countries, which was supposed to be concluded by the Fall this year, has hit a roadblock. President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to travel to New Delhi this year for the Quad Leaders Summit and to sign the BTA, has called off the trip, according to a report by The New York Times.
In fact, a day after the US raised tariffs on Indian products to 50 per cent, Peter Navarro, trade adviser to President Trump, described the Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”, and said “the road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi”.
“Everybody in America loses because of what India is doing. Consumers, businesses and workers lose because India’s high tariffs cost us jobs, factories and income. And then the taxpayers lose because we have got to fund Modi’s war. The road to peace runs, at least partly, right through New Delhi,” he said, even as India refrained from responding to these remarks.
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US Vice President J D Vance recently said that President Trump has applied “aggressive economic leverage”, including secondary tariffs on India to force Russia to stop bombing Ukraine. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated that the US tariff was “unjustified and unfair”, and that it was being wrongly “presented as an oil issue”.
English (US) ·