Nueva Delhi has put its plans on waiting to acquire new weapons and airplanes from the USA, according to three Indian officials familiar with the matter, in the first sign of concrete discontent of India after the rates imposed on its exports of President Donald Trump dragged the ties at their lowest level in decades.
India had planned to send the Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement about some of the purchases, but that trip has been canceled, two of the people said.
On August 6, Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as punishment for Russian oil purchases of Delhi, which said he meant that the country was financing the invasion of Ukraine in Russia. That increased the total duty of Indian exports to 50 percent, among the highest of any US trade partner.
The president of the United States has a history to quickly reverse tariffs, and India has said that it remains actively involved in discussions with Washington. One of the people said that defense purchases could continue once India had clarity about tariffs and the direction of bilateral ties, but “not as soon as expected.”
No written instructions had been given to stop shopping, said another official, indicating that Delhi had the option to quickly reverse the course, although “there was no movement forward at least for now.”
The Ministry of Defense of India and the Pentagon did not respond to Reuters‘ questions. Delhi, who has forged a close association with the United States in recent years, has said that he is being unfairly attacked and that Washington and his European allies continue to merchant with Moscow when it is of interest.
Reuters It is first reported that discussions on the purchases of India of Stryker combat vehicles made by General Dynamics Land Systems and Javelin Antanky Missiles developed by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have stopped due to tariffs.
Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to carry out the acquisition and joint production of these articles.
Singh had also planned to announce the purchase of six Boeing P8i recognition planes and support systems for the Indian Navy during their now canceled trip, two of the people said. According to officials, conversations about the acquisition of the aircraft in a proposed agreement of $ 3.6 billion were in an advanced stage, according to the officials.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics sent consultations to Indian and American governments. Raytheon did not return a request for comments.
Russian relationships
The deep security relationship of India with the USA.
Delhi is the second largest weapons importer in the world, and Russia has traditionally been its main supplier. India, in recent years, has changed to the importation of Western powers such as France, Israel and the United States, according to the group of experts from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute.
The change in suppliers was partly driven by limitations on Russia’s ability to export weapons, which is largely using Ukraine invasion. Some Russian weapons have also worked badly on the battlefield, according to Western analysts.
The Wider Indian Defense Association, which includes the exchange of intelligence and joint military exercises, continues without hiccups, said one of the Indian officials.
India also remains open to climb the imports of oil from Russia and is open to making agreements in other places, including the US, if you can obtain similar prices, according to two other Indian sources.
Trump’s threats and the growing anti-state nationalism united in India “have made it politically difficult to modify Russia to the United States,” said one of the people. However, discounts on the landing cost of Russian oil have been reduced to the lowest since 2022.
The Ministry of Oil of India did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
While the rupture in ties between the United States and India was abrupt, there have been strains in the relationship. Delhi has repeatedly refuted Trump’s statements that the United States negotiated a high fire between India and Pakistan after four days of struggle between neighbors with nuclear weapons in May. Trump also received the head of the Pakistan army at the White House in the weeks after the conflict.
In recent months, Moscow has been actively launching Delhi in the purchase of new defense technologies such as its S-500 superficial missile system, according to one of the Indian officials, as well as a Russian source familiar with conversations.
Currently, India does not see the need for new purchases of weapons from Moscow, two Indian officials said.
But it is unlikely that Delhi leaves Russian weapons completely as the association of decades between the two powers means that Indian military systems will continue to require Moscow’s support, said one of the officials.
The Russian embassy in Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
