The targeting of India for trade ties with Moscow is “unjustified and unreasonable”, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement Monday minutes after US President Donald Trump threatened to “substantially” increase tariffs on Delhi.

The MEA, in a six-point statement, spelt out how India began purchasing crude from Russia after Trump wrote on Truth Social that India was financing Russia’s war machine and profiting from selling Russian oil in the open market.

“India has been targeted by the United States and the European Union for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict,” the statement said.

“In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability.

“India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer,” the MEA Said, “They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion.

“The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently. European imports of LNG in 2024, in fact, reached a record 16.5mn tonnes, surpassing the last record of 15.21mn tonnes in 2022,” it pointed out,

“Europe-Russia trade includes not just energy, but also fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery and transport equipment.

“Where the United States is concerned, it continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals,” it added.

“In this background, the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” it said,

This is the first time India has formally responded to the penalty threat from Trump, who calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi his good friend.