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India-US ties hit rocky patch as Washington weighs sanctions on Russian energy buyers

Modi's tepid call with Trump follows signing of law empowering tariffs of up to 100 percent on Russian oil importers

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
India's relations with the United States have entered a difficult phase, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's September 28 phone call with President Donald Trump described as notably cold, just days after the US president signed a law that could impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries still buying Russian oil and gas, including India.

Modi's post on X about the call was "productive," saying the two reviewed bilateral cooperation in trade, defence, energy, critical technologies and other areas, and agreed to maintain close engagement to take their Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership forward.

But analysts noted the statement was far less effusive than in the past, even bland, a "cold and formal depiction" far removed from Modi's earlier descriptions of Trump as a "good friend."

The call came as already fraying ties hit another difficult phase. Ten days earlier, Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act (SRIA) of 2026, which empowers the president to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that continue to purchase Russian oil and gas. India, among the largest buyers of Russian energy, could potentially be affected.

Cooperation between the two countries has deepened and widened over the past two decades, and expectations were upbeat that ties would grow under Trump. However, the second Trump administration has not been kind to the partnership. Within weeks of the inauguration, relations began unravelling over tariffs, immigration and Washington's cultivation of ties with Pakistan on a range of issues, including terrorism, a subject on which Delhi is highly sensitive.

India was among the countries hit hardest by Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" announced last year, and was later slapped with an additional 25 percent "punitive tariff" for buying Russian oil. Should Washington press ahead with applying SRIA, India would face further penalties on its energy purchases.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • New US tariffs of up to 100 percent could raise costs sharply for India's substantial purchases of Russian energy, with flow-on effects for Indian industry and consumers.
  • The cooling tone between two leaders who once traded warm praise signals strain in a strategic partnership that had expanded across trade, defence, energy and technology.
  • Washington's overtures toward Pakistan add a security dimension that India regards as particularly sensitive, complicating any broader diplomatic reset.

Background

India-US relations have deepened markedly over roughly two decades, built on repeated assurances of shared interests in a free and open Indo-Pacific. Historically, India has balanced this partnership against its longstanding ties with Russia, including significant defence and energy purchases. Tariff friction is an old fault line in the relationship, but the current confrontation is sharper, pairing broad "reciprocal" tariffs with ones aimed specifically at penalising Russian energy purchases.

Key Perspectives

New Delhi: India sees its Russian oil purchases as economically rational and not a hostile act, and has sought to preserve strategic autonomy while still expanding cooperation with Washington. Washington: The SRIA reflects a congressional and presidential push to cut revenue flows to Russia, with tariff threats deployed as leverage against trading partners seen as undermining that goal. Critics: Some observers argue that coercive tariffs risk alienating a key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific, pushing India closer to Russia or reducing the goodwill built up over decades of engagement.

What to Watch

  • Whether the Trump administration actually applies SRIA tariffs to India, and at what level.
  • The tone of future high-level engagements, including whether either side moves to repair the relationship or lets friction deepen.
  • India's response on Russian oil purchases: continued buying would invite penalties, while reduced purchases would signal Washington's pressure is working.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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