The relationship between the United States and India is being strained and the matter in the middle of the storm is oil. Washington displeased with the fact that the New Delhi is still purchasing crude oil with Russia, and the Trump administration has reacted with hefty trade sanctions. However, as verbal abuse goes on between the two democracies, a single global power, China, has decided to remain silent.
The hustle started at the end of August when President Donald Trump imposed a new 25 percent tariff on Indian imports, effectively increasing all the taxes to an emasculating 50 percent. It sent a message quite clearly: in case India will continue doing business with Moscow, it will have a price. According to Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who appeared on NBC this week, the decision has caused tension. We have already seen the steps we have taken in the case of India though that is something we hope we will be able to rectify, he said. However, the President can do more, and he is contemplating doing more due to the course this has taken.
Rubio did not stop at India. He shifted his eyes towards Europe where he accused certain countries of hypocrisy. At the same time they urge Washington to increase sanctions, most of them still purchase Russian gas and oil. Outrageous, that is ridiculous, said Rubio.
In the meantime, Trump is still greatly exasperated with Vladimir Putin. The war in Ukraine is still going on despite a high-profile summit in Alaska in August. Rubio came to the defense of Trump and argued that he did not initiate this war. He inherited it. And he will make all he can, afford it all the chances in the world.
Against this backdrop, at the United Nations general assembly, Rubio introduced himself to the External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar, in New York. The face-to-face was the first one after the tariff increase and it took about an hour. Discussions devoted to Russian oil and trade, and Rubio would then say that he made a lot of progress. India, on the contrary, has not used confrontational tone. Prime minister Narendra Modi has been silently pushing his slogan of swadeshi, or self-reliance, asking Indians to support local brands instead of aggravating the conflict with Washington.
Another previous statement found its way out of Rubio, who stated that Trump had ended the war between India and Pakistan. New Delhi reacted quickly explaining that the ceasefire was reached as a result of direct military negotiations between the two states and not by American intervention.
China has remained silent even as the US and India struggle so hard to work out their differences and Europe is undergoing criticism. The silence is striking. According to analysts, Beijing can enjoy a spectacle in which the two of its competitors: India and the US fight, without being in the limelight.
To India, it is a dilemma between past relations and Moscow, and the increasing alliance with Washington. To the US, it is all about ensuring that sanctions have a bite. And in the case of China it appears the wisest measure is to merely keep its mouth shut.
