Trump’s threat ineffective… India will continue to buy Russian oil… Jaishankar will participate in BRICS meeting

New Delhi. Despite the heavy tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, India has not shown any desire to change its policies. India has vowed to maintain its independent foreign policy. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar will participate in the virtual meeting of BRICS. Also, clarifying India’s position on the purchase of Russian oil, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India will continue to buy oil from Russia as per its energy needs.

Amid deepening tensions in relations between the US and India, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday made it clear that India will continue to buy oil from Russia in view of its economic and commercial needs. He said that this decision will be entirely based on rates, logistics and national interests.

Sitharaman told CNN-News18, “Whether it is Russian oil or anything else, it is our right to buy from where our needs are met. Especially in a commodity like oil which costs a lot of foreign exchange, we have to choose the option that is best for us. So we will definitely buy it.”

Impact of US tariffs and government strategy
The Trump administration has recently imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian goods. The Finance Minister said that these effects will be balanced to some extent by GST reforms, which have reduced and simplified indirect tax rates on many goods. She said that the government is also taking concrete steps to help those who have been hit the most by US tariffs.

India’s energy needs and Russian oil
India is the world’s third-largest crude oil consumer and imports about 88 per cent of its requirement. Russian oil, which is often available at discounted rates, has helped India save billions of dollars in foreign exchange in the last three years.

BRICS leaders’ meeting and India’s role
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called for a virtual meeting of BRICS countries on September 8 to formulate a collective strategy on US tariffs. India and Brazil have been imposed the highest tariff of 50 percent. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will participate in this meeting on behalf of India. According to sources, India has decided that at this time the participation of the Foreign Minister instead of the Prime Minister at the summit level would be sufficient.

New Delhi believes that organizations like BRICS and SCO are not “anti-West” but “non-Western forums”. At the same time, US President Donald Trump, terming BRICS as “anti-American”, threatened in July that an additional 10 percent tariff would be imposed on products coming from these countries.

Brazil-US tension and Lula’s statement
Trump has dragged Brazil into his global trade war and threatened to impose more duties on imports if Brazil’s Supreme Court does not stop hearing the coup plot case against former President Jair Bolsonaro. The US has also cancelled the visas of Supreme Court judges and imposed sanctions on the Chief Justice. Lula recently said, “What President Trump is doing is unilateralism. He wants to destroy multilateralism and make deals with individual countries instead of collectively agreeing within institutions.” The very next day after Trump announced the imposition of an additional 25 percent tariff on India, Lula spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone. The two leaders discussed further strengthening trade cooperation.