KEY POINTS
- Trump calls US-India ties “special” after saying Washington had “lost India to China.”
- Modi welcomes remarks, highlights “comprehensive and global strategic partnership.”
- Trump and his aides criticise India’s Russian oil purchases.
- Indian officials reject US criticism, insist imports are based on economic needs.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has described ties between the United States and India as “special” and reaffirmed his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after saying that Washington had “lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China.”
Speaking at the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said: “I’ll always be friends with Modi. He’s a great prime minister. He’s great. But I just don’t like what he’s doing at this particular moment. But India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion.”
Prime Minister Modi welcomed the remarks, saying in a post on social media platform X that he “deeply appreciates President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,” adding that India and the US share a “comprehensive and global strategic partnership.”
Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties.
India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.@realDonaldTrump @POTUS https://t.co/4hLo9wBpeF
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2025
The comments came against the backdrop of tensions over trade and New Delhi’s energy ties with Moscow.
Trump has repeatedly voiced frustration at India’s purchase of Russian oil, which surged after the war in Ukraine.
“I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia, and I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 percent tariff, very high tariff,” Trump said, noting that trade talks were nonetheless progressing.
His shift in tone followed a post earlier this week on his Truth Social platform, where he wrote: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China,” alongside a photo of Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
Senior members of Trump’s trade team have also voiced concerns. Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing to President Trump, wrote on X that India’s purchases of Russian oil “feed Russia’s war machine” and burden US taxpayers.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told reporters the administration was “disappointed” with New Delhi’s stance but hoped for “positive diplomatic developments soon.”
Indian officials dismissed the criticism. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected Navarro’s comments as “false and misleading.”
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticised Navarro’s earlier claim that “Brahmins” were profiting from Russian oil sales, saying it resembled the “divide and rule” policies of the British. She insisted India’s energy imports were “based on economic and business reasons.”
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg, in an interview, that India must “choose between America and Russia.”
He noted that before the Ukraine war, India imported just 2 percent of its oil from Russia, a figure that has since risen to 40 percent.
Lutnick warned that unless India opens its markets and reduces reliance on Moscow, it faces tariffs of up to 50 percent.
India has so far maintained it will continue oil imports from Russia, while keeping trade talks with Washington open.
Meanwhile, BRICS countries have stepped up their criticism of US economic policies, with Trump threatening a further 10 percent tariff on the bloc’s members after branding it “anti-American” at their July summit in Brazil.
Despite the rhetoric, Trump insisted ties with India remain intact. “I don’t think we’ve lost them,” he said when asked about his earlier remarks. “I get along very well with Modi. The relationship between India and America is very special.”
