India: chickens have finally come home to roost

Sudhir Chaudhry

Chicago, Illinois, US

In an interesting but important development, US President Donald Trump has said he “will substantially raise tariffs on India” over its purchases of Russian oil. In his new post, the US President assailed New Delhi for buying Russian oil and then selling it. Over the weekend the Indian government had said that India would keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump threats, prompting White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to officially accuse India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow. The Indian diaspora or NRIs (non-resident Indians) in North America in particular are being chastised for Modi government’s policy of funding the Russian war to kill innocent men and women in Ukraine. India deserved it because it had been trying to appease both the US and Russia simultaneously by pursuing the policy of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. Now for the Sangh Parivar chickens have finally come home to roost. The consequences of India’s bad actions are therefore unpleasant and unavoidable.