Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine
"What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia," said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Mr. Trump's most influential aides.
Mr. Miller's criticism was one of the strongest yet by the Trump administration about one of the United States' major partners in the Indo-Pacific.
"People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That's an astonishing fact," MR. Miller said on Fox News.
The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday that New Delhi will keep purchasing oil from Moscow despite U.S. threats.
A 25% tariff on Indian products went into effect on Friday as a result of its purchase of military equipment and energy from Russia. Trump has also threatened 100% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine.
Mr. Miller tempered his criticism by noting Mr. Trump's relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he described as "tremendous.
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Indian Express
4 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Letter from Delhi Police refers to Bangla as ‘Bangladeshi language', TMC demands apology
A LETTER from Delhi Police to Banga Bhawan in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri, in which Bangla is referred to as 'Bangladeshi language', triggered a political row on Sunday with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal calling it a deliberate attempt to strip a constitutionally recognised Indian language of its identity and demanding an apology. As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee targeted the Centre, the BJP hit back, accusing the TMC of shielding illegal Bangladeshi settlers. This comes amid allegations of harassment faced by migrant workers from Bengal in BJP-ruled states on suspicion of being Bangladeshis — an issue highlighted by the Chief Minister at her recent rallies. The letter dated July 24, written by Inspector Amit Dutt from Lodhi Colony Police Station to Officer-in-charge of Banga Bhawan, requested for a translator to decipher documents seized from suspected Bangladeshi nationals. It said that police needed an interpreter 'proficient in Bangladeshi national language' to translate documents for a case involving eight persons 'strongly suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India'. 'Upon inquiry, copies of national ID cards, birth certificates, bank account details etc. were found from these suspected Bangladeshi nationals. The suspected Bangladeshi nationals were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on the order of the honorable court concerned,' the letter stated. Inspector Dutt, the Investigating Officer, wrote in the letter that the identification documents contain texts written in 'Bangladeshi' and are needed to be translated to Hindi and English. 'Now, for the investigation to proceed further, it is requested that an official translator /interpreter proficient in Bangladeshi national language may kindly be provided for the aforesaid purpose,' the letter said. 'Emphasis is laid on the fact that the requisite report would be a pivotal piece of evidence for successful prosecution of suspected Bangladeshi nationals facing trial. Expeditious disposal of this letter is desired as the same is required to be submitted before the honorable court in a timed manner. Any bills raised against the translation service shall be payable by the department and a quotation for the same may be communicated before hand,' Dutt said in the letter. Although senior police officers confirmed that the letter was sent to Banga Bhawan, an official response from Delhi Police is awaited. Targeting the Centre and the BJP, the TMC, which posted the letter on its X handle, said in a post: 'Is there no limit to @BJP4India's hatred for Bengalis? After repeatedly harassing and detaining Bengali-speaking workers across BJP-ruled states, @AmitShah's @DelhiPolice has now crossed all lines by officially branding our mother tongue, Bangla, as the 'Bangladeshi language'. Make no mistake: this is not a clerical error. It is a calculated insult, an official attempt to strip a constitutionally recognised Indian language of its identity and portray millions of Bengali-speaking Indians as outsiders in their own country.' 'Bangla is spoken by over 25 crore people globally and recognised as one of India's 22 official languages. Calling it 'Bangladeshi' is a deliberate affront, a vile attempt to delegitimise the language, erase its Indian roots, and brand Bengali speakers as outsiders,' it said, and demanded an 'unconditional apology, immediate correction, and strict action against the officials responsible'. In a post on X, Chief Minister Banerjee said: 'See how Delhi Police, under the direct control of Ministry of Home, Government of India is describing Bengali as 'Bangladeshi' language! Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the National Song (the latter by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) are written, the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!! Scandalous, insulting, anti-national, unconstitutional!! This insults all Bangla-speaking people of India. They cannot use this kind of language which degrades and debases us all.' 'We urge immediate strongest possible protests from all against the anti-Bengali Government of India who are using such anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate the Bengali-speaking people of India.' TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee called it a 'calculated attempt by the BJP to defame Bengal, undermine our cultural identity and equate West Bengal with Bangladesh for narrow political propaganda'. 'This is a direct violation of Article 343 and the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution,' he said in a post on X. 'There is no language called 'Bangladeshi'. To call Bangla a foreign language is not just an insult — it's an attack on our identity, culture and belonging.' Hitting back at the TMC, the BJP said in a post on X: 'Delhi Police apprehended 8 illegal Bangladeshi nationals and referred to their spoken tongue as the 'Bangladeshi language'. Now TMC is outrageously claiming this is an 'insult to our language'. But here's the irony — their entire outrage is rooted in defending Bangladeshis. What does that have to do with India or Indian Bengalis?' 'Let's get this straight — for TMC, a heavily Urdu-influenced dialect spoken by illegal migrants is now the real Bengali language? Is this what TMC politics has come to — defending foreign nationals while eroding Indian identity?' State BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya said he saw no mistake on part of Delhi Police in the letter. 'The language is absolutely correct. You bring a book from Bangladesh and read it and read any book from West Bengal. After reading the two books, you will understand which one is written by Subodh Sarkar and which one is written by some Shafiqul Islam from Bangladesh,' he said. 'So if someone speaks Bangla, he doesn't become an Indian, it is not like his/her name will have to be included in the voter list if he speaks Bangla, such things will not work anymore. In a pre-planned manner with fake Aadhar cards these people have entered Banga Bhawan too.'
Indian Express
4 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Amid curbs on H1B and student visas, more Indians are lining up for US investment visas
'THE TRUMP Card is Coming. Enter your information below to be notified the moment access opens,' says the new US government website on the Gold Card, the $5 million US residency visa programme announced by President Donald Trump in February. Despite curiosity around the new programme, the launch date and specific details of which are yet to be released, data shows that the existing investment-based residency programme EB-5, which the Gold Card will replace, has seen more applications from India over the past one year than ever before. According to the American Immigrant Investor Alliance (AIIA), a Washington-based collective of EB-5 investors, demand for EB-5 from Indian citizens has grown sharply since April 2024, driven by factors such as stricter controls over student and temporary work visas under the Trump regime. Data provided by United States Immigration Fund (USIF), which runs designated EB-5 regional centres in the US, confirms this. 'In the first four months of FY2025 (October 2024-January 2025), Indian applicants filed more than 1,200 I-526E petitions across reserved categories — more than any prior full year,' Nicholas Mastroianni III, president and CMO of USIF, told The Indian Express, referring to the application forms. Experts said another factor fuelling EB-5 filings could be a record backlog in other immigration categories, including H1-B and green card. According to estimates, more than 11 million US immigration applications are pending with the authorities. So, EB-5 has become the fastest and most assured route to US permanent residency, they said. Data accessed by The Indian Express from Washington-based Invest In the USA (IIUSA), an overarching trade association for the EB-5 regional centre programme, show that 1,428 EB-5 visas were issued to Indians in FY2024 (October 2023 to September 2024), as against 815 in the previous year. Between 2014 and 2021, the figures were minuscule, at 96 in 2014, and under 200 EB-5 visas until 2017. Created by the US Congress in 1992, the EB-5 programme is a pathway to green cards to immigrants who make a minimum investment of $1,050,000 (Rs 9 crore), or $800,000 (Rs 6.88 crore) in economically distressed zones called Targeted Employment Areas (TEA), to create jobs for Americans, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website. It allows the investor, their spouse and unmarried children under 21, to immigrate to the US. However, changes were brought to the programme in 2022, introducing both flexibility for investors and stronger audit checks on sources of income. Following this, experts said, filings from high net worth Indian citizens looking for US residency increased manifold. Between October 2024 and March 2025, 649 Indian nationals were issued EB-5 visas via consular processing — a strong indication that a large number of Indian filings from the financial year 2022–2023 have matured, Mastroianni said. The path is also becoming popular in the adjustment of status category, among those already in the US on non-immigrant status. 'Students and individuals on H-1B visas currently represent the primary group seeking lawful means to remain in the US with the ability to work,' said Sukanya Raman, country head, Davies & Associates, LLC, an immigration law firm. 'Indian nationals currently in the US on non-immigrant status such as H-1B or student visa and who file under the new provisions benefit from automatic issuance of work and travel permits within 3-6 months from the time of filing I-526E petition typically which remain valid until their EB-5 green card is approved,' said Raman. The number of student visas issued by the US government have dropped by 15% globally to 89,000 in the first half of fiscal year 2025 (October-March) with India reporting a massive fall of 43.5% in fresh visas compared to the same period in 2024, according to the US Department of State data. The numbers are likely to fall further in the second half of fiscal 2025 due to a nearly month-long pause in new visa appointments over May and June. While China remains top user of EB-5 visas, followed by Vietnam and India, IIUSA data also shows that most Indian filings come through the Indian consulate in Mumbai, showing that high net worth individuals from the financial capital and the region have been using this route to get US residency. Out of the total 638 unreserved consular processing (for those based in India, as opposed to adjustment of status, meant for those already living in the US) applicants between October 2024 and May 2025, 543 filed through the US consulate in Mumbai. According to Ravneit Kaur Brar, Attorney-at-law in California who deals with immigration issues, the data is always compiled with China and India as two data points because of very high volume coming out of these two countries, in almost every category. China accounts for 51% of worldwide filings. India remains the second-largest market, contributing a total of 1,341 I-526/E filings between FY2022 and July 5, 2024, with 1,057 of them filed under the Reserved EB-5 categories, Brar said. 'India shows a positive trend in approval rates over the years. India's approval rate rose from 59% in FY2022 to 82% in FY2024,' she said. The processing time from petition filing to visa issuance varies from the kind of projects being opted for by the applicant. While rural area projects take approximately 8-24 months; High-Unemployment Area Projects take 12-30 months. Mastroianni said that contrary to assumptions, there has been a surge in demand for EB-5 after the announcement of the Gold Card programme. 'We are witnessing one of the most promising surges in EB-5 interest from Indian families in recent history. The uncertainty surrounding future visa programmes like the proposed Gold Card, combined with heightened scrutiny of traditional student and work visa routes, has pushed many investors to act now — not later. What's changed is not just demand, but decisiveness,' he said. 'With the spectre of visa retrogression looming and the current ability to file concurrently from within the US, families are prioritising stability, permanence, and long-term security. EB-5 is no longer seen as an alternative — it's become the preferred strategy,' Mastroianni said. Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
6 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
US trade talks to stick to terms agreed earlier
India and the United States are intensely engaged to conclude a mutually beneficial early trade deal by the end of this month, 'strictly' within the bilaterally agreed framework of March 29, irrespective of the ongoing political rhetoric and independent of their strategic relationships with other countries, people in the know said on Sunday. he two countries finalised the detailed terms of reference (ToR) to enter into negotiations of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) on March 29 during their first physical round of talks in New Delhi. (PTI) It may be part of the negotiations that India and the US may purchase and sell more energy as an outcome of the deal. But the agreed framework does not proscribe either nation from purchasing oil and gas from any third country of its choice, they said, requesting anonymity. The two countries finalised the detailed terms of reference (ToR) to enter into negotiations of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) on March 29 during their first physical round of talks in New Delhi. Later, on April 22, US Vice President JD Vance officially announced the finalisation of the ToR for bilateral 'trade negotiations' during his India visit, and called it 'a vital step toward a final deal' between the two nations in a post on X that day. ToR is a set of bilaterally agreed road map for BTA negotiations. Both sides have concluded five physical rounds of negotiations and several virtual discussions within that framework. In the process, the two sides have already reached some common ground, substantial enough to announce an interim deal, they said. 'We are engaged through virtual mode as on date and likely to iron out remaining differences when the American negotiating team visits India for the sixth physical round this month,' one of the people cited above said. The US negotiating team is expected to land in New Delhi on August 24 to participate in the sixth round of talks from August 25. According to the people, some concrete outcomes are expected after the successful conclusion of the sixth round towards the end of August, despite US President Donald Trump's recent statements and tariff actions against India. Trump on July 30 announced punitive tariffs on Indian goods through a post on Truth Social. The announcements involved 25% on Indian goods shipped to America and an unspecified levy for purchasing Russian oil. Trump's reaction was an outcome of India refusing to budge on retaining protections for its agriculture, dairy and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors from unfettered American imports. Another factor behind Trump's reaction was India importing almost one-third of its crude oil requirements from Russia. About that, Trump on July 31 said on Truth Social: 'I don't care what India does with Russia… They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.' According to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) country analysis updated on February 6, 2025, Russia was the primary source of India's crude oil and condensate imports in 2023, accounting for about 39% of its total imports, followed by Iraq (19%), Saudi Arabia (16%), United Arab Emirates (5%) and the US (4%). India imported 4.5 million barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil and condensate in 2023, it said. 'In 2022, after the United States and EU imposed sanctions on Russia, India began purchasing Russia's crude oil at a discount, increasing its imports more than sixfold to 740,000 b/d,' the report said. Energy hungry India, which is the world's third largest importer after the US and China, imports over 87% of the crude oil it processes. 'Economical and reliable energy supply is the top priority of India's energy security, and heavily discounted crude from Russia meets both the requirements. Our energy sourcing is diversified, involving 39 countries. We have recently increased energy imports from the US and this may go up further depending on commerciality. But our sourcing from Russia would not stop under any external pressure. We are not bound by any unilateral sanction as we follow the UN sanction,' a second person said. Energy security is India's key concern and the US is endowed with the natural resource. The proposed BTA may have some definite commitments for enhanced energy imports from the US, depending on the long-term commercial viability, the people mentioned above said. 'But the deal cannot and will not restrict India's freedom in pursuing its independent energy sourcing. We are buying crude oil from about 40 countries, including the US, the Middle East and Russia. And the policy of diversified sourcing will continue,' the first person said.
