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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he plans to raise tariffs on India within the next 24 hours, days after announcing a 25 per cent duty set to take effect from August 7.

In an interview with foreign media, Trump said the earlier settled tariff rate of 25 per cent will be revised upwards. "India has the highest tariffs. We do very little business with India. We settled on 25 per cent, but I think I am going to raise that substantially within the next 24 hours," he was quoted as saying.

The American president further accused India of purchasing Russian oil and fuelling what he called "the Russian war machine."

This comes a day after India hit back at the United States for its accusation that New Delhi is buying 'massive amounts' of Russian oil and selling it for large profits in open markets.

In a sharp response on Monday, India called the targeting by the US and European Union “unjustified and unreasonable.”

Reiterating its position, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said New Delhi will take steps to protect its interests. "India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," the MEA spokesperson said in a statement.

India clarified that its imports from Russia began only after traditional suppliers diverted oil shipments to Europe following the Ukraine conflict.

"In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets' stability," the ministry stated.

Hitting out at what it called double standards, New Delhi pointed to the continuing trade between the US, EU, and Russia despite their public criticism of India. "The nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia," the ministry said, noting that the US “continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals.”

The MEA also flagged the scale of the EU's trade with Russia.

"The European Union had bilateral trade of 67.5 billion euros in goods with Russia in 2024. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at 17.2 billion euros in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently," it added.

Meanwhile, Russia also reacted strongly to Trump’s remarks, calling the pressure tactics “illegitimate” and backing India's sovereign right to choose its trade partners.

"Russia notes US threats against India but does not consider such statements to be legitimate. Sovereign countries must have and have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners in trade and economic cooperation, and to choose those trade and economic cooperation regimes that are in the interests of a particular country," Russian President's spokesman Dmitri Peskov was quoted as saying by foreign media.

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