India accuses US, EU of Russia trade double standards: Who is right?

India connected Monday deed backmost astatine the United States and European Union implicit sanctions, tariffs and threats that it has faced from them successful caller days implicit its acquisition of Russian lipid amid the warfare connected Ukraine.

New Delhi accused the US and EU of themselves importing important volumes of goods – including vigor successful the lawsuit of Europe – from Russia, portion punishing India.

India’s strongest pushback yet, against mounting unit from Washington and Brussels connected commercialized and its ties with Russia, came hours aft US President Donald Trump threatened to importantly summation tariffs helium had antecedently announced against Indian goods.

Trump had past week imposed a 25 percent tariff connected imports from India, which is expected to footwear successful from August 7. In a Monday societal media post, however, helium said helium “will beryllium substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA” due to the fact that of India’s imports of Russian crude.

In precocious July, the EU besides slapped sanctions connected Nayara, 1 of India’s 2 large backstage lipid refiners, which is Russian-majority owned. The bloc besides banned the import of refined lipid made from Russian crude, again hurting Indian refiners.

Until Monday night, India’s effect had been muted. That has present changed. Two hours aft Trump’s latest announcement, New Delhi issued a connection accusing the US and EU of treble standards and of, successful fact, softly encouraging India to bargain Russian crude earlier.

As India’s relations with the West – different lukewarm and increasing until precocious – present fray implicit its acquisition of Russian energy, however existent are New Delhi’s claims that the West is arsenic blameworthy of enabling the Kremlin’s warfare instrumentality arsenic those it blames?

What did India accidental connected Monday?

After hesitating for days to publically instrumentality connected Washington and Brussels directly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities issued a terse connection connected August 4, calling the targeting of India “unjustified and unreasonable”.

“Like immoderate large economy, India volition instrumentality each indispensable measures to safeguard its nationalist interests and economical security,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, successful words that suggest New Delhi is successful nary temper to backmost down.

But Jaiswal besides straight pushed backmost against suggestions from the US and EU that India – successful buying ample volumes of Russian crude – had acted successful a mode that broke with the West’s ain behaviour.

“In fact, India began importing from Russia due to the fact that accepted supplies were diverted to Europe aft the outbreak of the conflict,” Jaiswal said, referring to Russia’s full-fledged penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.

“The United States astatine that clip actively encouraged specified imports by India for strengthening planetary vigor markets’ stability,” helium added.

He said India’s determination to import Russian lipid was “meant to guarantee predictable and affordable vigor costs to the Indian consumer”.

“However, it is revealing that the precise nations criticising India are themselves indulging successful commercialized with Russia,” helium added.

The EU, helium said, had traded much with Russia successful goods successful 2024 than India had. “European imports of LNG successful 2024, successful fact, reached a grounds 16.5 cardinal tonnes, surpassing the past grounds of 15.21 cardinal tonnes successful 2022,” Jaiswal said.

The US, meanwhile, “continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its atomic industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers arsenic good arsenic chemicals,” the spokesperson said.

India’s effect is not surprising, said Biswajit Dhar, a commercialized economist who has been progressive with aggregate Indian commercialized negotiations.

“The aggressiveness that the Trump medication has shown – determination had to beryllium immoderate absorption from India,” helium told Al Jazeera. “For a sovereign state to perceive this benignant of a menace from different state is unacceptable.”

How important are the US, EU sanctions and tariffs against India?

India’s pushback reflects conscionable however overmuch is astatine involvement for its economy.

The US is India’s largest export destination: Americans bought $87bn worthy of Indian goods successful 2024. By contrast, India imported $41bn worthy of US goods past year, starring to a ample $46bn commercialized shortage for the US.

Trump’s earlier menace of 25 percent tariffs connected Indian goods was already threatening to dramatically disrupt that trade. His announcement of adjacent higher tariffs could bleed India’s export gross further.

Brussels’ determination to barroom the import of refined petroleum sourced from Russian crude could besides batter the profits of Indian refineries. According to marketplace quality steadfast S&P Global, Indian exports of petroleum products to Europe person jumped from $5.9bn successful 2019 to $20.5bn, mostly due to the fact that of India’s quality to bargain subsidised Russian oil, refine it, and past merchantability it to the West.

But stopping the acquisition of Russian lipid would travel with its costs: After the US and Europe imposed pugnacious sanctions connected Moscow implicit its warfare connected Ukraine, Russia offered discounted crude to India. The EU besides introduced terms caps connected Russian lipid shipped by European tankers. As a result, India saved billions of dollars, with Russia becoming its biggest root of imported crude.

For India, accidental experts, it isn’t conscionable the economical calculations that marque the caller threats and sanctions problematic. The West is “just changing goalposts”, Anil Trigunayat, a retired Indian diplomat, told Al Jazeera. “So, India is conscionable showing them the reflector with facts and figures now.”

Did the US and EU promote India to bargain Russian lipid until now?

Trump, successful his latest station targeting India, claimed that “they don’t attraction however galore radical successful Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.”

India is arguing that the aforesaid accusations levelled against it clasp existent against the US and EU – and that they really acquiesced to New Delhi buying Russian lipid erstwhile the West nary longer wanted to.

“They (India) bought Russian lipid due to the fact that we wanted idiosyncratic to bargain Russian lipid astatine a terms headdress – that was not a usurpation oregon anything, that was really the plan of the policy, due to the fact that arsenic a commodity, we did not privation the terms of lipid to spell up,” Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India nether erstwhile President Joe Biden, said astatine the Washington-based Council connected Foreign Relations successful May 2024. “They fulfilled that.”

"India brought Russian Oil, due to the fact that we wanted idiosyncratic to bargain Russian oil…", says US ambassador Garcetti connected India buying Russian lipid ; Adds,'no Price Cap violation, we did not privation lipid prices to spell up..' pic.twitter.com/it3zku9Hbs

— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) May 11, 2024

The logic was simple: If nary 1 had bought Russian oil, that would person shrunk the full disposable lipid proviso with the aforesaid planetary demand, driving up costs. As Garcetti pointed out, Indian purchases of Russian crude helped debar that – portion allowing the West to trim its dependence connected Russian energy.

Until July, the EU, too, had not imposed immoderate restrictions connected the import of petroleum products sourced from Russian crude.

Is the West trading much with Russia than India is?

That’s the different large assertion from India.

And the facts suggest that New Delhi is right. According to the EU, its full commercialized with Russia was worthy 67.5 cardinal euros ($77.9 bn) successful 2024. India’s full commercialized with Russia successful 2024-25 was worth $68.7bn.

To beryllium sure, Europe’s commercialized with Russia has fallen sharply, from 257.5 cardinal euros successful 2021, earlier the penetration of Ukraine, portion India’s commercialized with Russia has surged from astir $10bn earlier the COVID-19 pandemic.

But information shows that the bloc continues to bargain Russian gas. Since the commencement of the penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022, the grouping has paid Moscow $105.6bn for state imports – an magnitude equivalent to 75 percent of Russia’s 2024 subject fund – according to the Finnish think-tank, Centre for Research connected Energy and Clean Air, which has been tracking Russian vigor commercialized done the war.

In 2024, EU imports of Russian LNG roseate 9 percent compared with the twelvemonth before.

Mineral fuels marque up astir two-thirds of EU imports from Russia, followed by food, earthy materials, machinery and transport equipment, according to the bloc.

And the US does so inactive import a scope of chemicals from Russia, arsenic Jaiswal claimed. Total Russia-US commercialized successful 2024 stood astatine $5.2bn, according to the US Trade Representative’s bureau – though the numbers are down importantly from 2021, erstwhile their commercialized successful goods stood astatine $36bn.

Given this backdrop, the Indian overseas ministry was “absolutely close to telephone retired the US and EU”, Jayati Ghosh, an economics prof astatine the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told Al Jazeera. “They are inactive importing from Russia. They’re allowed to bash it, we are not. That’s ridiculous.”

Is this each a commercialized negotiating tactic?

Some Indian experts judge that the threats and tariffs from Trump are bargaining measures aimed astatine securing a trade woody with India that is favourable to the US.

The 2 countries person been locked successful negotiations implicit a commercialized statement to minimise Trump’s tariffs but person yet to hold connected a pact, adjacent though India has chopped tariffs connected respective US imports.

A cardinal sticking constituent is agriculture, wherever India has agelong imposed precocious tariffs to support its workplace sector, which represents astir fractional of the country’s population.

“The mode the Trump medication has been demanding that India unfastened its marketplace to US agri-business – that’s a no-go for India,” Dhar said. “Our tiny farmers volition look a superior adverse situation; truthful it’s economically and politically wholly unacceptable to India.”

Ghosh echoed those sentiments.

“There’s nary question of giving successful connected agriculture,” she said. “In India, you cannot springiness successful and let US heavy subsidised multinational conglomerates to invade our markets, erstwhile a bulk of our colonisation inactive depends connected agriculture for a livelihood.”

But successful caller weeks, Trump has besides tried to ramp up unit connected Russia to hold to a ceasefire woody with Ukraine, and choking Moscow’s lipid exports would marque it harder for Russian President Vladimir Putin to prolong his economy.

On Monday, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller accused India of “financing this (Russia’s) war“.