Trump calls Indian economy ‘dead’, announces Pak oil deal

Hours after hitting India with 25 per cent tariffs and a penalty over its Russian oil and arms imports, US President Donald Trump sharpened his attack, saying the two countries can take their “dead economies down together”. He doubled down on his offensive by announcing a trade deal with Pakistan, a key element of which is extracting neighbouring country’s oil reserves.

The US President’s outburst on the social media comes amid the ongoing negotiations for a trade deal with India.

In a series of posts, Trump sought to mount pressure on New Delhi for a trade deal, saying: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care…. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.”

Sources, however, pointed out that Trump ignored the fact that India was a $4 trillion economy and ranked among top five in the world.

Trump went on to announce a deal with India’s adversary, saying: “Pakistan and the US will work together on developing their massive oil reserves. We are in the process of choosing the oil company that will lead this partnership. Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling oil to India some day.”

The Pakistan embassy in the US termed it the “beginning of a new era of economic collaboration especially in energy, mines and mineral, IT, cryptocurrency”. It complemented Islamabad’s existing efforts of broadening the scope of the Pakistan-US economic ties, it said.

The US move is being seen in some quarters as a pressure tactic while opposition parties have latched on to the Trump’s remarks to question PM Modi’s foreign policy.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-led government of “running the country to the ground”, saying: “He (Trump) is right, everybody knows this except the PM and Finance Minister. Everybody knows that the Indian economy is a dead economy. I am glad that President Trump has stated a fact.”

Harsh Pant, vice-president, Studies and Foreign Policy at Observer Research Foundation, said: “Trump’s messages are a mix of pressure tactics and frustration due to trade deal not going through.” “Till we sign the trade deal, the back and forth with Trump will continue,” he argued.

The sources said Trump was trying to dictate a reset of ties. India cannot open up its agriculture sector or the dairy sector, which has been conveyed to the US.

Trump’s statements are also being seen as a road bump, hitting the two decades of diplomatic effort that saw India inching closer to the US besides joining multi-lateral platforms such as Quad or the US-led 14-nation initiative on critical minerals. Dinakar Peri, fellow, Security Studies at Carnegie India, said Pakistan managed to get on the “right side of Trump, especially after Operation Sindoor”. Is it because Pakistan acknowledged Trump’s role in stopping the hostilities, while India insisted that the US had no role in it? Peri said.

US-based Derek Grossman, an expert on Indo-Pacific issues, posted on X: “This is the worst day in the US-India strategic partnership since May 1998.”

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said President Trump and the whole trade negotiation team have been “frustrated” with India over the trade talks.