LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There are escalating tensions between the U.S. and India. President Trump put a 25% tariff on Indian goods and says more might be coming because it buys Russian oil and weapons. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports from Mumbai.
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Indian exports to the U.S., arguing Indian purchases of Russian oil were fueling Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. This is senior Trump aide Stephen Miller during a Fox interview on Sunday.
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STEPHEN MILLER: It is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia.
HADID: By Monday evening, India's foreign ministry responded by saying it was unreasonable to demand they stop buying Russian oil. In a statement, a spokesman noted that America was also purchasing goods from Russia, like fertilizers and uranium. And Indian media shared a clip of the former U.S. ambassador to New Delhi, Eric Garcetti, saying last year that Washington approved of India purchasing Russian oil to keep global prices steady.
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ERIC GARCETTI: It was actually the design of the policy 'cause as a commodity, we didn't want oil prices going up.
HADID: All this is a far cry from Trump's public embrace of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, during his first administration, including holding a giant rally for Modi.
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HADID: Modi repaid that by hosting Trump at a massive rally in India.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Namaste. Namaste.
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HADID: These tensions now highlight a broader crisis for India, which prides itself on its independent foreign policy. It's long balanced its old relationship with Russia with a close relationship with Washington. Milan Vaishnav is director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He says that won't fly under Trump.
MILAN VAISHNAV: Now we have a U.S. president in office who sees everything as zero-sum. So if India is doing energy deals with Russia, it means that they're not doing deals with the United States.
HADID: Vaishnav says Trump may be upset at Modi because he has not publicly thanked him for brokering a ceasefire after six days of fighting in May between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbors. Vaishnav again.
VAISHNAV: Until and unless there's a public endorsement of Trump's role, it's going to be very hard to get past this stage.
HADID: Vaishnav says what Trump may really want from India is a thank you.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Mumbai.
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