US Treasury Secretary responds to bilateral talks between Modi, Putin, and Xi at the SCO
India has defended its purchase of Russian oil as driven by national interest
Trump administration weighs sanctions on Russia
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented on India’s performance at the annual SCO summit that took place in Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, which he termed as “largely performative.”
In an interview with Fox News, Bessent responded to questions about the status of the India-US relationship, currently under strain due to the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on India over its purchases of Russian oil.
He also discussed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place on the margins of the SCO summit.
Referring to ongoing tensions between India and the USA, he said that the “two great countries (India and the US) will get this solved” as Delhi’s values “are much closer to ours and to China’s than to Russia’s.”
He characterised the SCO to be a “largely performative” organisation, and asserted that “at the end of the day, India is the most populous democracy in the world” even though Indians had been bad actors in “terms of buying Russian oil and then reselling it, financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine.”
He also noted that the slow progress in India-US trade talks had further prompted the White House to raise tariffs. India has seen these tariffs as “unjustified and unreasonable” and has justified its purchase of Russian oil as a matter of national interest and market dynamics.
Bessent also added that “all options are on the table” referring to possible sanctions on Russia following the continuation of bombardments against Ukraine, and said that the US would be “examining those very closely this week.”
With PTI inputs
