Trump wants India to stop buying Russian oil. Why is Modi saying no?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been performing a tricky balancing act maintaining close partnerships with US President Donald Trump and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin while insisting his country is a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war, to the dismay of Western nations who have sanctioned Moscow.

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But now, it seems, Trump has lost his patience demanding that Modi finally pick a side, and using India's continued purchases of cheap Russian oil as leverage in his trade war.

The conundrum pits Trump and Modi, two nationalist leaders who have often described their friendship in warm terms, increasingly against each other. On Wednesday, Trump announced sweeping and substantial tariffs on India, one of America's most important trading partners. In addition to a 25% tariff that is set to go into effect Thursday, Trump also announced an additional 25% tariff on India that will go into effect later this month as punishment for importing Russian oil and gas.

Those combined penalties would bring the total tariff on goods imported from the world's fifthlargest economy to a whopping 50% - among the highest the US charges.

Trump earlier this week threatened India with the new tariffs, saying they were helping Russia wage war in Ukraine. "India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine," he wrote on social media.

But for Modi, it's not so simple.

While many other countries have scrambled to strike trade deals with the Trump administration, India the world's fourth largest economy - has pushed back defiantly, saying it is being unfairly targeted and calling the measure "unjustified. "The US and Europe, it pointed out, still trade with Russia on other products such as fertilizers and chemicals. Here's what you need to know about why India is reluctant to stop buying Russian oil.

Why does India need Russian oil?

India has long been reliant on Russia for crude oil to support its booming economy and growing population, now at more than 1.4 billion people.