Online Reporter
New Delhi has put on hold its plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft, according to three Indian officials familiar with the matter, in India’s first concrete sign of discontent after tariffs imposed on its exports by President Donald Trump dragged ties to their lowest level in decades.
India had been planning to send Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement on some of the purchases, but that trip has been cancelled, two of the people said.
Trump on August 6 imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as punishment for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, which he said meant the country was funding Russia’s war with Ukraine.
That raised the total duty on Indian exports to 50 percent — among the highest of any US trading partner.
The president has a history of rapidly reversing himself on tariffs and India has said it remains actively engaged in discussions with Washington.
One of the people said the defence purchases could go ahead once India had clarity on tariffs and the direction of bilateral ties, but “just not as soon as they were expected to”.
Written instructions had not been given to pause the purchases, another official said, indicating that Delhi had the option to quickly reverse course, though there was “no forward movement at least for now”.
Post-publication of this story, India’s government issued a statement it attributed to a Ministry of Defence source describing news reports of a pause in the talks as “false and fabricated.” — reuters.com
