Trump’s Big Statement on Relations with India: Says PM Modi is Not Happy with Him Because…

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has made a major statement regarding India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump said that his relationship with PM Modi is good, but currently, PM Modi is not happy with him. According to Trump, the reason for this is that India is buying oil from Russia, due to which it is having to pay high tariffs.

Referring to a meeting, President Trump claimed that PM Modi himself had requested time to meet him. The US President also spoke about defense cooperation and said that India had been waiting for Apache helicopters for many years. He said, “We are changing that. India has ordered 68 Apache helicopters.”

Earlier, while speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump had said, “Prime Minister Modi is a very good man. He’s a good person. He knows I’m not happy. It’s important to make me happy.” In his earlier statement, Trump had said that there is trade between India and the US, but the US can increase tariffs on India very quickly if it wants to.

Trump had previously said, “They (India) trade, and we can put tariffs on them very quickly.” Trump had also previously hinted that additional duties could be imposed on India. He had said that PM Modi knows that he is not happy about the purchase of Russian oil. Trump has also maintained that the US can take strict action against countries that continue to trade with Russia.

Trump Imposed Tariffs on Tariffs on India
Last year, Trump adopted an aggressive stance against India regarding tariffs. He imposed a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on India. In addition, an extra 25 percent penalty tariff was also imposed for buying Russian oil. Thus, the total duty reached up to 50 percent in some categories. After this decision, considerable tension was seen in the relations between India and the US. India had clarified at the time that it makes decisions keeping its national interests and energy security in mind.

Phone call between PM Modi and Trump
Trump’s recent warnings come just a few weeks after a phone conversation between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In that conversation, both leaders emphasized the need to further bilateral trade and maintain the pace of cooperation despite the existing tariff tensions. This phone call took place on the same day that Indian and US negotiators began a new round of talks to resolve the tariff dispute.

A few days before the phone call, Trump had made a sharp statement regarding Indian rice. During a roundtable meeting at the White House, an American farmer representative accused India, China, and Thailand of dumping. Responding to this, Trump questioned Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, “Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have any exemption on rice?”

The tariff problem will be solved in two minutes – Trump
When he was told that a trade agreement with India was being worked on, Trump said, “But they shouldn’t be doing that. We’ll fix it. Tariffs solve the problem in two minutes.”

Currently, talks between India and the US to resolve the tariff dispute are stalled. Washington is putting considerable pressure on India regarding the high import duties imposed by India on American agricultural products. The US wants India to open its market further to American farmers. On the other hand, India’s stance has been that it cannot ignore the interests of its own farmers and domestic agriculture.