Overview

• Trump said he would always be friends with Modi and later added he did not think the U.S. had lost India to China after his earlier Truth Social post.
• New Delhi rejected Peter Navarro’s claim that India is an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin,” calling the remarks inaccurate and misleading.
• The current 50% tariff on Indian goods reflects a 25% reciprocal duty plus a 25% penalty linked to India’s Russian crude purchases that began in late August.
• Indian officials maintain Russian oil buys are driven by national interest, with Russia’s share of India’s imports rising to roughly the mid‑30s percent in 2024–25.
• A viral SCO clip showing Modi with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin intensified diplomatic optics, yet neither side announced any policy shift.