It is no more about trade; peoples’ ties are at risk too

It's time to address a question that's been staring us in the face. Is President Trump being vindictive towards India? Has he got it in for our country? Because if the answer is yes, it’s a far more worrying situation that we face than we first thought.

- Karan Thapar

Vice-president JD Vance has said that 25% secondary tariffs have been imposed on India for importing Russian oil as “aggressive economic leverage” on Russia to stop the Ukraine war. Doesn't that suggest India is collateral damage, and President Trump doesn’t care what happens to our country?

Indeed, if the objective is “aggressive economic leverage” on Russia, how come China, which imports more oil than India, has not had secondary tariffs imposed on it? In fact, in China's case, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said it’s okay for China to keep importing Russian oil because that prevents inflation in global energy prices. Isn't this double standards? A case of one logic for China and quite another for India?