Kumar Bahukhandi
America remains upset with India-Russia defense relations (File Photo)
Donald Trump’s Commerce Minister Howard Lutnick has raised objections to India-Russia’s defence relations. He has said that Donald Trump has raised objections to this with India. Lutnick has also commented on BRICS.
Russia is India’s biggest supplier of defence weapons and this has always been a thorn in America’s side. The brilliant way in which India used Russian and indigenous weapons in the conflict with Pakistan was seen by the whole world including America. But now America has raised objections to India’s defence trade. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, raising objections to India-Russia defence relations, said on Tuesday June 3, 2025 that India’s purchase of weapons from Russia is a way of troubling America.
Addressing the eighth session of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Lutnik said that India’s long-standing arms trade with Russia has become a matter of dispute with the US.
The US Commerce Secretary said that US President Donald Trump has raised this issue with India and claimed that the Indian government is taking steps to resolve it. Lutnik also said that India is moving towards buying military equipment from the US.
He said, ‘The Indian government did some things that the US generally disliked. For example, you generally buy your military equipment from Russia. If you are going to buy your weapons from Russia, then this is a way to trouble the US.’
The US Commerce Secretary also spoke about BRICS
The US Commerce Secretary also targeted India regarding BRICS. BRICS is an organization of countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa which works to challenge the hegemony of the West in the world order. Some time ago, there were reports that the BRICS countries were going to launch their own currency together which would challenge the hegemony of the dollar in global trade. But there is no official information on this at the moment.
The US was very upset with this. The US Secretary of State also raised this issue in the forum. He said, ‘Being a part of BRICS, such relationships are being formed. It is being said there that let us no longer support the dollar and the hegemony of the dollar. But this will not make America your friend nor is it a way to influence the people here.’
India is increasing its strength by ignoring American pressure
Currently, about 60% of the defense weapons of the Indian Army are of Russian origin. After the recent conflict with Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday praised the strength of the country’s air defense, especially he mentioned the performance of the S-400 missile defense system made in Russia. Addressing the army, Modi said, ‘Platforms like S-400 have given unprecedented strength to the country.’
India purchased the S-400 missile defense system from Russia in 2016 under a $5.4 billion deal. During this purchase, India also received a threat of sanctions from the US, which India ignored and purchased it from Russia.
India has also inaugurated a production unit for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in Uttar Pradesh. This will help India to increase its defense stock in an unstable security environment.
America is India’s largest trading partner
In the financial year 2024-25, trade between India and the US was $131 billion, making America India’s largest trading partner.
India exports more to America than it imports. Because of this, America has a trade deficit of more than $41 billion in trade. America constantly raises questions about this and to bridge it, like other countries of the world, it has announced reciprocal tariffs on India.
India-Russia trade
At the same time, talking about trade between Russia and India, despite the increased pressure on Russia after the war with Ukraine started in 2022, India-Russia trade has increased. America has also put pressure on India not to trade with Russia, despite this, the trade between the two countries has increased to more than $ 60 billion. India and Russia have set a target to increase this trade partnership to $ 100 billion.
