Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a sharp rebuke for the US on Friday over the imposition of 50% tariffs against India. She also assured that New Delhi would come up with packages to help exporters who had been affected by the recent levies. The comments came even as US President Donald Trump took a fresh swipe at recent developments — claiming he had ‘lost India and Russia’ to China.
“Whether it’s Russian oil or anything else, it’s our decision which suits our needs. I’m outraged by the kind of disrespect shown to Indians and the colonial justification of this language used against Indians,” CNBC-TV18 quoted her as saying.
Sitharaman insisted that India needed to have “self-respect” in addition to self-reliance and reiterated that the country would “undoubtedly continue to buy Russian oil”.
No need to panic, negotiations underway: Piyush Goyal
Fellow Union Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier today that India and the US would soon come to an “equitable, balanced and fair agreement”. He
“I do not think there is any need to panic. We should allow the negotiations to happen. We continue to have good relations with the United States, and I am sure we will be able to resolve some of these issues and come to an equitable, balanced and fair agreement…There is never a timeline in negotiations. You should do it patiently, as you are doing it for the long term,” he told ANI.
US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods exported to the US. Initially, Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, while later, he imposed another 25 per cent tariff, taking the total to 50 per cent, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil.