India Responds to Trump's Tariff Conditions: 'We'll Negotiate Mutually'
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): US President Donald Trump seems to be backing down from his previous comment about "losing" India to China. On the other hand, US Industry Minister Howard Lutnick laid down three conditions for removing 25% extra tariff on India.
During an interview with a private channel, he said that India will have to stop buying oil from Russia, break away from BRICS and support America. He said that if you (India) want to become a bridge between Russia and China, then do so, but either support the dollar or America. Support your biggest customer or pay 50% tariff. However, he also expressed hope that India will soon join the talks of a bilateral trade agreement with America. He said that America is always ready for talks.
Along with this, Lutnik also said that there is trade tension between India and America, but soon India will apologize and come to the negotiating table with President Trump. He said that in a month or two India will come to the negotiating table with Trump and apologize. According to Lutnik, India will try to make a new deal with Trump. This deal will be on Trump's terms and he will finalize it with Prime Minister Modi.
At the same time, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India will continue talks with the US on trade issues. He said- We consider the Quad a good platform for discussing many issues between the four countries. The leaders' meeting will be decided by diplomatic talks between the member countries.
Meanwhile, Trump shared a picture of Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin on the social media platform 'Truth Social' and wrote that India and Russia have probably gone with China. He had said that it seems that we have lost India and Russia to China. Now they should spend a long and happy future together. However, a day later today Trump said that 'I will always be Modi's friend. I am always ready to reset relations with India.'