Page 12 - The Indian EYE 091225

OPINION SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 | The Indian Eye 12

From Tariffs to Tensions:

America’s Diplomatic

Blunder with India

India’s government has been outspoken in its criticism of the tariffs, with India’s Ministry of External

Affairs calling the move “unjustified and unreasonable.” India’s decision to explore alternative
markets, including renewed engagement with China and other countries like Russia and those in

Europe and South America, signals a shift away from the US

H S PANESAR

n August 2025, the Trump ad-
ministration imposed a sweeping
I50% tariff on Indian goods, citing
India’s continued purchase of Rus-
sian oil as the primary reason. Half of
these tariffs were framed as punitive
measures against India’s econom-
ic relationship with Russia, which
the US had repeatedly condemned
due to Russia’s ongoing invasion
of Ukraine. However, this decision
has quickly become one of the most
controversial foreign policy moves
in recent history, with critics arguing
that it represents a significant failure Russian President Vladimir Putin at his meeting with United States of America President Donald Trump, in Alaska (@WhiteHouse X/ANI)
in US foreign policy. By alienating a
key ally in the Indo-Pacific, applying cific region. The US has invested the longstanding border tensions of American efforts.
inconsistent sanctions, undermining considerable resources into strength- and competition between the two
years of diplomatic efforts, and dam- ening this alliance, viewing India as countries. Yet, in a surprising twist, INCONSISTENT POLICY AND
aging vital economic relations, the a key partner in the broader strategy China has openly defended India’s
US risks further eroding its global of containing China’s rise. However, right to purchase Russian oil, fur- DOUBLE STANDARDS
influence.
the 50% tariffs, positioned as a re- ther complicating the US’s position. core critique of the US’s tariff
buke for India’s decision to contin- India’s response to these tariffs has strategy is its glaring inconsis-
ALIENATION OF A KEY ue purchasing oil from Russia, could been one of defiance, as it seeks to A tency. While the US focuses
PARTNER significantly derail this longstanding explore new trade routes and deep- on India’s purchase of Russian oil,
strategic effort. en its connections with other global China—a far larger consumer of
or decades, the United States Rather than pushing India to powers—both friendly and adversar- Russian energy—has largely been
has worked to build a strategic reconsider its relationship with Rus- ial to the US. The US has inadver- exempt from similar punitive mea-
Fpartnership with India, seeing sia, the tariffs have instead driven tently alienated a critical partner in sures. This discrepancy raises ques-
the world’s largest democracy as a India toward closer economic and the region, potentially driving India tions about the underlying motiva-
crucial counterbalance to China’s diplomatic ties with China. This into the arms of China, a geopolitical tions behind the tariffs. Critics argue
growing dominance in the Indo-Pa- shift is not insignificant, considering development that undermines years Continued on next page... >>

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