Not until we get it resolved: Trump on trade negotiations with India
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of trade negotiations with India, until the issue of tariffs is resolved.
“No, not until we get it resolved,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday in response to a question on whether he expects increased trade negotiations with India since he has announced 50 per cent tariffs on the country.
Last week, Trump had announced 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India that came into effect from August 7.
The US president also signed an executive order slapping an additional 25 per cent levy on India for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties to 50 per cent, among the highest imposed by the US on any country in the world.
The additional 25 per cent duty will come into effect after 21 days or August 27.
Responding to the tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs has said that the targeting of India is "unjustified and unreasonable".
“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” it said.
On the current situation between India and the US, prominent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra said “much more is at stake” amid Trump’s tariffs.
He described as “unfortunate” that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not accept a ceasefire with Ukraine as wanted by Trump.
"Hurting India is to hurt Russia,” Batra said in a post on X. “But it hurts us too, much more,” he said adding that America needs the Russian president to enter into a “genuine” ceasefire with Ukraine, “free-of-deception by any, and then get President Xi (Jinping of China) and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to be American allies too, along with Putin.”
“It’s time for a mature reset, or we risk a domino effect that hurts all and unravels multilateralism and gives us unbridled chaos that even creative Wall Street and Federal Reserve can’t handle,” he said.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
