NATO boss on Trump tariffs.

NATO boss on Trump tariffs: ‘Narendra Modi now asking Russia’s Putin to explain his Ukraine strategy’.

Russia is indirectly impacted by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India, according to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. He claims that New Delhi has been in communication with Moscow and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been urged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his stance on Ukraine more clear.
“Russia is being significantly impacted by Trump’s tariffs on India,” Mark Rutte stated Thursday in an interview with CNN on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York. Narendra Modi is calling Putin in Delhi to ask him to clarify his approach to Ukraine since India is facing tariffs.

Neither Russia nor India have immediately responded to Rutte’s remarks.

Trump levied a 25% reciprocal tariff on India last month, along with an additional 25% fine for the country’s ongoing imports of Russian oil. He has maintained that Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine is indirectly financed by these oil imports.

The remarks made by Rutte coincide with reports that the Indian team has returned from the United States following trade negotiations with their American counterparts in New York.

The team’s leader, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, will return on Friday. According to new agency PTI, the team landed in New York on Monday to discuss the proposed trade pact between the two nations.

The visit comes against the backdrop of recently concluded day-long discussions in New Delhi between US chief megotiator Brendan Lynch and Agrawal on the proposed bilateral trade agreement.

On September 16, the commerce ministry stated that the day-long discussions with the visiting US team on a bilateral trade deal were positive, and both sides agreed to push for an early and mutually beneficial conclusion of the agreement.

The visit of high-ranking US trade officials came after the imposition of the tariffs on Indian goods entering the American market.

The visit also assumed significance amid the US administration’s sudden decision to hike the application fee for H-1B visas to USD 1,00,000.

Industry body Nasscom on Saturday said the US’s move will impact India’s technology services companies as business continuity will be disrupted for onshore projects that may require “adjustments”.

Earlier this month, Russia, India, and China displayed solidarity with the “triple handshake and huddle” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the SCO Summit.

The rare moment even drew a reaction from Trump, who in a social media post lamented the loss of India and Russia to what he called “deepest and darkest China.”