The Government of India has temporarily suspended the process of purchasing weapons and military aviation equipment from the United States, according to information disseminated through various sources. This was reported by international media, including the Reuters agency.
According to the data, official Delhi has also canceled the planned official visit of the country’s defense minister to Washington. In fact, during this visit, it was expected that a number of new defense cooperation agreements would be signed.
Reuters writes that such a sharp step by India was caused by a new decree signed by US President Donald Trump a few days ago. In particular, on August 6, Trump adopted an official document entitled “Measures of the United States against threats from the Government of the Russian Federation.” According to it, a 25% additional duty is imposed on India, which is purchasing Russian oil.
As a result of such a decision, the total duty rate for certain goods exported from India to the US will reach 50%. This is noted as one of the highest tariff indicators applied by Washington to its trade partners in recent years.
According to the presidential decree, this procedure will come into effect 21 days after its signing. Therefore, India intends to suspend arms trade agreements with the US until the duty issue is resolved.
It should be recalled that India was currently negotiating the purchase of Stryker family combat vehicles produced by the American company General Dynamics Land Systems, as well as modern Javelin missile systems manufactured by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. In addition, there was a plan to purchase Boeing P8I reconnaissance aircraft worth several billion dollars.
In February of this year, during a meeting at the White House, Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also discussed the implementation of joint projects in the field of arms and military equipment production.
At the same time, the Indian Ministry of Defense officially denied reports that the purchase of arms from the US had been temporarily suspended. According to the official statement, purchase and sale processes are continuing according to the established schedule.
Analysts note that in recent months there has been a certain political and economic tension between Washington and Delhi. In particular, India’s large-scale purchase of oil from Russia does not align with US interests. However, Delhi intends to pursue an independent policy in this direction.
Earlier, India rejected the demand of the US and the European Union to stop importing oil from Russia.
In May, four-day armed clashes took place between India and Pakistan, after which the parties reached a mutual ceasefire. At that time, Trump stated that this agreement was the result of his personal efforts, but India did not recognize such mediation.
It is known that India is among the world’s largest arms buyers. Historically, the government of Delhi has mainly purchased weapons from Russia, but in recent years, against the background of strategic rivalry with China, it has sought to purchase large quantities of military equipment from the US, Israel, and France as well. At the same time, relations with Russia remain unstable.
At the early stages of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, India tried to remain in a neutral position, attempting to preserve strategic partnerships with both Washington and Moscow. Therefore, despite Western pressure, it refrained from openly criticizing Russian aggression. Many experts evaluated this policy as a “two-sided game.”
However, according to recent data, Delhi has refused some of Russia’s requests and has been involved in supplying artillery ammunition to Ukraine. In addition, after it was revealed that some Indian citizens had been lured into the war by Russia through deception, a chill also arose in diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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