Trump says he will cut tariffs on India after Modi agrees to stop buying Russian oil

Donald Trump claimed India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil as he announced plans to cut US tariffs on Indian exports.The US president announced that he and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, whom he proclaimed to be “one of my greatest friends”, had agreed to strike a trade deal.While full details have yet to be disclosed, Trump claimed that India – the second largest purchaser of Russian crude – had agreed to stop buying Russian oil, after many months of pressure from the US.After a call with Modi on Monday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!”Modi hailed the “wonderful” news on tariffs in a post on X, formerly Twitter, but did not explicitly mention his country’s oil purchases.India, which relies heavily on oil imports from overseas to cover the vast majority of its demand, has imported cheaper Russian oil in recent years, as much of the western world sought to cut economic ties with Moscow following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.Trump claimed that India had committed to buying more oil from the United States and “potentially” Venezuela after agreeing to “stop buying Russian Oil”.US tariffs on Indian exports are set to fall from 25% to 18%, the president said, claiming that India would “likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO”.An additional 25% US tariff on India, leveled by Trump last summer over its purchases, is also expected to be shelved.“President Trump’s leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity,” said Modi. “India fully supports his efforts for peace.”The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, flew to India in December and declared that his country stood ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India. Both Putin and Modi stressed at the time that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.But India has started to cut back on its oil purchases from Russia. In January, they were about 1.2m barrels per day, according to a Reuters report, and projected to decline to about 1m bpd in February and 800,000 bpd in March.Trump also claimed on Monday that Modi had pledged to buy more than $500bn worth of US energy, technology, agricultural and other products.“Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most,” he wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”Reuters contributed reporting