In the wake of escalating trade tensions between the United States and India over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil, Moscow has come out strongly in defence of its energy partnership with India.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, Roman Babushkin, addressed a press conference where he described US sanctions on India as “unjustified” and “unilateral.”

His remarks come days after US President Donald Trump announced a steep increase in tariffs on Indian exports in retaliation for India’s sustained procurement of Russian oil amidst the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Starting August 27, the US has decided to impose a 25 per cent additional duty on Indian goods, later doubling it to 50 per cent, pushing New Delhi into the highest tariff bracket alongside Brazil.

Babushkin asserted that Moscow stood firmly with India in the face of mounting economic and diplomatic pressure from Washington. He offered India alternative trade opportunities, emphasising that if Indian exporters encounter barriers in the US market due to protectionist trade measures, Russia would remain an open and reliable destination for Indian goods.

The Russian diplomat underscored that India-Russia energy cooperation had proved resilient against repeated external pressures in the past and would continue to thrive given India’s increasing crude oil needs and Russia’s status as its largest supplier. He framed the partnership as one of genuine strategic trust built over decades, in contrast to what he described as the West’s “neo-colonial” behaviour focused on self-interest.

The context of Babushkin’s remarks is significant. Only a day earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt justified Trump’s decision to penalize India by clarifying that the tariffs were meant as secondary pressure on Russia to halt its Ukraine offensive.

Washington has long warned New Delhi against circumventing sanctions by maintaining or increasing energy imports from Moscow. However, India’s position has remained clear and consistent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly called the tariff escalation “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” maintaining that India will not succumb to coercive measures that compromise its national interest.

The Russian envoy’s statements align with India’s broader diplomatic trajectory of maintaining strategic autonomy. By affirming that Russia values India as a long-term partner and assuring that trade and energy ties would not break down despite Western censure, Babushkin sought to highlight Moscow’s reliability compared to the West’s “double standards.”

He reminded that despite years of sanctions and attempts to isolate Russia economically, Moscow’s economy had shown resilience, fuelled by partnerships such as those with India and within BRICS. He emphasised that Russia, unlike Western states, does not impose unilateral or non-UN sanctions, which he termed as illegal instruments to “weaponize the economy.”

The remarks are also notable as they came during Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s three-day visit to Moscow, where he is expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. This visit underscores India’s balancing act of pursuing close ties with both Washington and Moscow, while prioritising its energy security in a volatile global environment.

The Russian diplomat pointed to the recent high-level engagement between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Modi, stressing that Moscow’s direct outreach to New Delhi over Ukraine developments is proof of India’s key importance in Russia’s foreign policy calculations.

At the core of this dispute lies the clash between Washington’s efforts to isolate Russia economically over its invasion of Ukraine and India’s determination to safeguard its energy and trade interests. While the US views Indian purchases of Russian oil as undercutting its sanctions regime, New Delhi argues that its actions are driven by pragmatic national priorities—ensuring affordable energy supplies for its large economy and population.

The imposition of punitive tariffs particularly threatens Indian sectors like textiles, marine products, and leather, which depend heavily on export revenues from Western markets. Yet, with Russia offering to absorb some of these products, there is potential for bilateral trade realignments, even if they cannot fully compensate for lost US market access.

Geopolitically, this development risks adding strain to India-US relations at a time when Washington has sought to portray New Delhi as a vital partner in counterbalancing China in the Indo-Pacific. Babushkin’s sharp critique of the West—claiming that “friends don’t behave like that”—reflects Moscow’s attempt to position Russia as a more dependable ally for India than the US.

Meanwhile, the United States insists these measures are part of its larger strategy of ending the Ukraine war by cutting off Russia’s revenue streams, although critics argue such moves risk driving India, one of America’s strategic partners, further into Moscow’s economic orbit.

In conclusion, the current tariff war highlights the complex tightrope India must walk in safeguarding its interests amid the great-power rivalry. While Washington’s punitive measures are meant to discipline New Delhi for its oil trade with Moscow, Russia has seized the moment to reiterate its role as a long-term partner that does not interfere in India’s sovereign choices.

The resilience of the India-Russia relationship, bolstered by trade growth—sevenfold in recent years despite Western sanctions—suggests that New Delhi and Moscow are determined to sustain cooperation, even as India navigates the turbulence caused by its ties with the United States.

The immediate impact of the tariff escalation will be economic, but the longer-term test will be geopolitical: whether India can successfully resist pressure from Washington without undermining its broader strategic partnerships, particularly in the Indo-Pacific context.

Agencies