Whither India-US relations?

Coercing India to tow the US line will certainly backfire on the bilateral relationship.

US President Donald Trump’s imposition of a tariff as a punitive measure on India for buying Russian oil has created a massive distrust between India and the US. The downward spiral started after Trump said that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a claim which has been countered by Indian officials several times. This was followed by Trump hosting a lunch for the Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir in the White House. The Trump family’s crypto business and Pakistan’s offer of critical minerals demonstrated that India must navigate Trump’s transactional relations. The bilateral trust so assiduously built by both India and the US after the 1998 nuclear test by India, the major milestone being the Indo-US nuclear deal, appears to be in doldrums as India has asserted that it will protect its national interest by buying Russian oil. India also exposed the US double standard when it revealed the value of the oil purchased by Western countries and China from Russia. While India had reduced imports of Iranian oil due to US sanctions on Iran, Western countries had praised India for its import of crude oil from Russia, which contributed to the global oil price stability.