India is hopeful that shared interests will help New Delhi and Washington ride the rough weather in bilateral relations even as the two sides continue to ensure that other aspects of the comprehensive global strategic partnership are insulated from the differences over tariffs and President Donald Trump’s unilateral announcements.
India was also guarded about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s proposal to host an online meeting of BRICS leaders to evolve a joint response to the Trump tariffs. Asked if India sees a role for BRICS in dealing with Trump tariffs, all external affairs ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday was: “India is a member of BRICS and we continue to remain in touch with member countries to discuss issues of shared interest.”
Trump has been training his guns on BRICS and has linked the additional 25 per cent tariff imposed on India for buying Russian oil to New Delhi’s membership of BRICS. As for Lula’s push for de-dollarisation, he pointed out that India has clarified earlier itself that de-dollarisation is not part of India’s financial agenda.
On US treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s statement earlier in the day indicating the possibility of more tariffs coming India’s way if the Trump-Putin talks in Alaska on Saturday do not yield results, Jaiswal referred reporters to New Delhi’s earlier responses to secondary sanctions for buying Russian oil which primarily centre around the hypocrisy of the western world in this regard.
Asked about whether the Trump tariffs have derailed the relationship, Jaiswal said: “India and the United States share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values and robust people-to-people ties.
This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges… We remain focussed on the substantive agenda that the two countries have committed to. And we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
This iteration of remaining invested in the bilateral relation — that has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 25 years through successive governments of different political persuasions in both countries — came amid reports of India putting on hold plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft.
This had been earlier denied by a senior official of the defence ministry and today Jaiswal reiterated it, stating that “the procurement processes continue as per established procedures”.
On the defence partnership as a whole, he said it is underpinned by foundational defence agreements and listed at least three engagements lined up for the next half of the month.
“This robust cooperation has strengthened across several domains. We are expecting a US defence policy team to be in Delhi in mid-August. The 21st edition of the joint military exercise, Yudh Abhyas, is also expected to take
place later this month in Alaska.
Both sides remain engaged to convene the 2+2 inter-sessional meeting at the working level towards the end of this month.”
Earlier this week, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had told a parliamentary standing committee that trade is just one aspect of the bilateral relationship.
On the latest US state department’s human rights report on India — released on Tuesday along with other countries — the spokesman said: “As we have always maintained these reports are a mix of imputations, misrepresentations, and one-sided projections that demonstrate a poor understanding of India’s democratic framework, pluralistic society and robust institutional mechanisms for protecting human rights. We do not attach any credence to such biased assessments. We remain focussed on advancing human rights of our people through inclusive governance and development.”