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US President Donald Trump has up the ante on India over its purchase of oil from Russia, warning of levying additional tariffs within the next '24 hours.'

In an interview with international media, President Donald Trump stated his intention to significantly increase tariffs on India within the next '24 hours,' citing the country's purchases of Russian oil. "India has not been a good trading partner, because they do a lot of business with us, but we don't do business with them," Trump said. "So we settled on 25 per cent, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they're buying Russian oil. They're fueling the war machine."

 

"I never said a percentage ": Trump on increasing tariffs on countries buying Russian energy

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This threat follows a previous round of criticism last week, where he called both New Delhi and Moscow 'dead economies.' Having already imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods, Trump is now threatening to add further duties, directly linking the move to India's 'buying massive amounts of Russian oil.'

On Monday, Trump had also accused India on his Truth Social platform of 'selling Russian oil 'on the open market for big profits.' He wrote, "They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA."

 

Also Read: Over 60 nations brace for US tariff hit, few secure deals

 

India responded sharply to the criticism from the United States and the European Union, arguing that it is being unfairly targeted for its Russian oil purchases while both the US and EU continue to trade extensively with Moscow despite the conflict in Ukraine. After Trump's Monday remarks, India said it was 'revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia.'

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also defended India's right to choose its trading partners, slamming Trump for what he called 'illegally' pressuring allies to sever ties with Moscow. "We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia," Peskov said. "We do not consider such statements to be legal."

 

Also Read: Good step: Trump praise India ending Russian Oil purchase