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Six months of a Trump Presidency later, India-US ties hit a crossroads

Six months of a Trump Presidency later, India-US ties hit a crossroads

Despite both Trump and Modi getting off to a warm start and a first-mover advantage for India in trade talks, recent developments suggest the going may not be as easy as initially hoped
Shreya Nandi New Delhi
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Six months ago, when Donald Trump returned to the White House as the 47th President of the United States (US), he made his objective clear: 'Make America Great Again'. As a part of the agenda, the US administration turned to the use of tariffs as a key tool to raise government revenue, boost domestic manufacturing, and create jobs.
What also stood out was Trump's apparent closeness with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Just three weeks after Trump's inauguration, Modi arrived in Washington D.C. for a high profile meeting. Both leaders announced plans to finalise the first tranche of a mutually-beneficial
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'The price cap is designed to leave Russia with only bad options…We want him (Putin) to choose between three bad things: selling with coalition services under the price cap, selling outside the price cap, or shutting his oil in and not putting it to market. With a strong and robust price cap regime, Putin is going to prefer to sell as much as he can outside the price cap. But in order to maximise his sales outside the price cap, when a large part of the global coalition is already involved in the price cap, he is going to have to offer it cheaper,' Nostrand said. Anna Morris, the then US Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime, said at the same event that from a technical standpoint, Russian oil once refined into petroleum fuels and products could no longer be considered of Russian origin, dismissing the argument that India refiners were facilitating Russian petroleum's entry into Europe. 'I also want to specify that once Russian oil is refined, from a technical perspective it is no longer Russian oil…If it is refined in a country and then sent forward, from a sanctions perspective that is an import from the country of purchase, it is not an import from Russia,' Morris said. While the Biden administration seemed satisfied with the price cap, while letting Russian oil flow, Trump has taken a much more aggressive stance, threatening financial costs on importers of Russian energy. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More

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