US President calls India and China primary funders of Russia’s war in Ukraine; repeats Op Sindoor ceasefire claim on biggest stage of global diplomacy. US President Donald Trump mentioned India in two key contexts in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that lasted just under an hour in New York on Tuesday.
The first mention was a repeat of his claim that he “stopped a war” between India and Pakistan, counting it among seven such cases — something he’s done at least three dozen times so far, though never at the biggest global stage of diplomacy. The second one was more acerbic, and mildly surprising given the recent revival of trade deal talks amid renewed bonhomie between Trump and India’s PM Narendra Modi.
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war (in Ukraine) by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” Trump said. He also urged European nations to dial up sanctions on Russia and those who buy from it, including some in Europe. He has called such purchases “the engine feeding Putin’s war machine” in the past too.
In what could be seen as an ominous sign for India, Trump said a “very strong round of powerful tariffs… would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly”. In August he put an additional 25% levy on Indian imports, doubling overall tariffs to 50%, to pressure New Delhi to end its oil deals with Moscow.
India has argued that it’ll continue to buy for better prices, and that the US had at one point, even after Russia attacked Ukraine, encouraged it to buy Russian oil to keep global prices low. China has so far been spared major punitive tariffs, and Trump even spoke to President Xi Jinping last Friday as talks for a trade agreement continue between the two superpowers.
On India, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier in a TV interview on Tuesday that while talks are seeing “a lot of progress”, stopping Russian oil purchases remains the main issue.
The US President is considering even more sanctions to squeeze Russian revenues, Rubio also said. Trump has tried mediating in the Russia-Ukraine war, even hosted Vladimir Putin in Alaska, but his efforts haven’t shown results. Admittedly frustrated, he has blamed Putin but also alleged stubbornness on the part of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
His blaming India for the war, though, is a break from the recent tone of relative reconciliation, including a birthday call to “my good friend” Modi.
The Modi government has avoided confrontational rhetoric despite provocative statements over the past few months by Trump, his cabinet members including commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, and advisors such as Peter Navarro.
After Modi and Trump exchanged words of admiration earlier this month, talks resumed. India’s Vice President CP Radhakrishnan even mentioned recently that “Trump continues to say, ‘Modi is my great friend’”.
