India Refuses to Treat Russia Like Iran, Rejects U.S. Oil Import Demands
NEW DELHI, India – August 9, 2025: Experts say India won’t stop buying oil from Russia, even though the United States is pushing hard. Government people agree, which goes against President Donald Trump’s recent threat to add tariffs on Indian goods if they don’t cut Russian energy purchases. They all think India’s relationship with Russia is way different now economically and strategically than it was with Iran, so you can’t really compare them.
Trump Team Turns Up the Heat
This disagreement started when President Donald Trump criticized India for buying oil and weapons from Russia. On August 6, 2025, he signed an order and made announcements about adding a 25% tax to Indian goods on top of the current ones. Unless India stops buying Russian energy by August 27, 2025, the total tax on Indian exports to the U.S. will be 50%.
The U.S. says India is helping Russia’s war by buying its oil in the conflict with Ukraine. This is causing tension between the two countries, and people worry about their economic and strategic future.
The ‘Russia Is Not Iran’ Argument
The U.S. is wrong to treat Russia like Iran, say the experts. Arun Singh, who used to be India’s ambassador to the U.S., said plainly that Russia is not Iran. Back in 2019, India stopped buying oil from Iran because the U.S. wanted them to, but Russia is different since the relationship is bigger.
Since the war in Ukraine started, India has bought way more oil from Russia, making Russia their biggest oil provider. The State Bank of India (SBI) did some research and found that Russia only accounted for 1.7% of India’s oil imports in 2020, but now it’s 35.1% in 2025. Because of this jump, it’s almost impossible for India to just switch to buying oil from somewhere else.
What Happens if India Stops Buying?
The State Bank of India says that if India stops buying Russian oil, they could end up paying $9 billion more for crude oil imports for the rest of the year and $11.7 billion more next year. This would really hurt India’s economy and its people.
The SBI report showed that India gets oil from lots of places, but Russia sells it at a cheaper price. This is important for India to keep energy prices down and control inflation. If they stop these imports, India would have to buy more expensive crude from other providers, which would make prices go up at home.
India’s View on Doing Its Own Thing
India stands by its decision to buy Russian oil, saying it’s what’s best for the country and that it has the right to make its own choices. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) put out a statement saying the U.S. is being unfair and unreasonable. The MEA also pointed out that Western countries are kind of hypocritical since the U.S. and Europe still trade with Russia a lot, even for things like uranium and fertilizers.
It’s not just about oil for India; it’s about being independent in its foreign policy. India wants a fair world, not one controlled by just a few, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said. This belief guides India’s relationships with other countries, and it doesn’t want those relationships to be seen through the eyes of another country.
What Happened with Iran
The Iran situation helps explain what’s going on now. When the Trump administration put maximum pressure on Iran, they got India to stop buying oil from them. This worked because Iran wasn’t a huge supplier back then, and India could find other sources without too much trouble.
But Russia is a big energy producer worldwide and has been a strategic partner with India for a long time, especially when it comes to defense stuff. Cutting off Russia would really mess up India’s military and political situation, and New Delhi doesn’t want to take that risk.
Political Problems
Some experts think the U.S. is trying to force India into a trade deal that only benefits the U.S. Professor Brahma Chellaney, a strategic studies expert, said the U.S. is using Russian oil purchases to force a one-sided trade deal on India. He mentioned that the U.S. hasn’t penalized China, which buys more Russian oil than anyone else.
This disagreement has made some people think of the U.S. as an untrustworthy partner, which had been improving over the last 20 years. People worry that the U.S. is hurting the relationship between the two countries, which has been carefully built on trust and working together.
What’s Next?
Things could still change. The U.S. is giving India 21 days to talk things over before the new taxes start. India is sticking to its guns, saying it’s committed to what’s best for the country and its economy.
How this all turns out will show how much India can do its own thing and deal with a world that has many power players. It will also affect the future of the relationship between India and the U.S., as well as how sanctions and global trade work.
