Overview
- India’s foreign ministry said there was no such assurance to the US president and no phone call on the matter, noting the last Modi–Trump call was on October 9.
- Speaking aboard Air Force One, President Trump said India would keep paying "massive" tariffs if it did not stop buying Russian crude and has raised the claim three times in five days.
- The Congress party escalated attacks on the government, alleging it has outsourced policy to Washington and saying Trump brushed aside the MEA’s denial.
- Trade frictions intensified after the US increased duties on Indian goods, including a 25% levy linked to purchases of Russian crude, which India called unfair and unreasonable.
- Trump is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest later this week, and opponents in India expect he will keep pressing the oil issue as Washington argues such purchases fund Russia’s war effort.