After months of considerable forbearance, the statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Monday, pushing back against the U.S. and the European Union (EU) for “targeting” India is significant. The statement came two hours after Mr. Trump had announced penalty tariffs against India, “substantially” above the current 25% rate set to go into place this week, for importing, processing and selling Russian oil. A day earlier, a senior Trump aide had accused India of “financing” Russia’s war in Ukraine. And on July 18, the EU had announced sanctions on India’s Vadinar refinery (partially Russian owned), and secondary sanctions that will affect Indian refiners. The MEA spokesperson said that the measures were “unjustified and unreasonable” as the U.S. and the EU continue to trade with Russia for goods including LNG, critical minerals and nuclear fuel requirements. The statement also said that it was the U.S. that had encouraged India to keep buying Russian oil to stabilise global markets, something the Biden administration had confirmed. The government said that in comparison to the western countries, India’s Russian oil purchases are a “vital national compulsion” as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, adding that India would “… safeguard its national interests and economic security”. The MEA’s statement is the first such clear response on the issue since the Ukraine conflict. Taken with Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement last week on the U.S. announcement of 25% reciprocal tariffs on India from August 7, Monday’s statement indicates New Delhi’s growing frustration with the U.S.’s increasingly offensive positions against India, including on immigration, trade negotiations, Operation Sindoor and Pakistan, and India’s BRICS membership. It is unclear how and to what extent the government is prepared to stand up to the bullying tactics of Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that India has not been a “good trading partner” — a possible reference to trade talks and the failure of a mini-deal, ostensibly over India’s resistance on agricultural market access, dairy products and GM foods.

While it is hoped that New Delhi will continue to engage Washington and Brussels to conclude their respective trade talks, the MEA statement is meant to make a larger point. Neither the U.S. nor the EU can decide which country India will partner or trade with. That message is being underlined in visits by Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Moscow, to prepare for the Russian President’s visit to India later this year. India’s sovereignty is non-negotiable and its foreign policy choices cannot be manipulated by other countries, no matter how significant their own ties with India are.