Hard to believe, but America is turning to Europe for help in pressuring India. Washington appears determined to make the Asian giant fall in line. New Delhi, however, seems poised to stand its ground.
The United States has recently asked Europe to impose tariffs on India over its ties with Russia, Axios reported. It is a bold move, but whether it will prove effective remains uncertain.
US officials appealed to the European Union leadership to slap tariffs on New Delhi in order to exert economic pressure due to India's active engagement with Russia and its purchases of Russian hydrocarbons.
If European countries intensify pressure, oil and gas supplies could be halted entirely. However, such a scenario appears unlikely as the EU is a major buyer of Indian petroleum products refined from Russian crude.
Notably, additional US tariffs of 25% on imports from India took effect on August 27, bringing the country’s overall rate to an astonishing 50%.
Nevertheless, Washington has not achieved its goal. On the contrary, amid escalating trade tensions, India has begun moving closer to China, despite their long-standing trade and geopolitical disputes. In this context, the US has turned to its EU partners, but to no avail thus far.
Against this backdrop, India's foreign ministry described Washington's actions as "unfair and unjustified." Furthermore, according to a Reuters report, India decided to increase its purchases of Russian oil after the talks collapsed.
