The Indian Army made fun of the US on Tuesday by posting a 1971 newspaper clip that demonstrated the nation’s decades-long support for Pakistan. The post was made a day after President Donald Trump threatened to significantly increase tariffs on Indian goods due to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
The Indian Army’s Eastern Command posted the video, which was taken on August 5, 1971. It demonstrated how, in the decades leading up to the war in 1971, the US had been providing Pakistan with armaments. The army captioned the photo, “This day, that year buildup of war – August 5, 1971.”
According to the newspaper clip, VC Shukla, the then-defense production minister, told the Rajya Sabha that, in the wake of Islamabad’s armed aggression in Bangladesh, the Soviet Union and NATO powers had been contacted regarding the supply of weapons to Pakistan. According to the report, the US continued to support Pakistan even though the Soviet Union and the French government had refused to provide arms.
Additionally, it claimed that China and the US both sold Pakistan weapons at “throwaway prices,” suggesting that Pakistan used the weapons supplied by both nations to fight India in the 1971 war.
Even now, the United States has loosened its tariffs on Pakistan.
Hours before the trade deal deadline on August 1, Trump signed a new executive order imposing higher tariffs on dozens of countries as part of his latest attempt to reshape international trade in Favour of US companies. On the other hand, he reduced the tariffs on Pakistan from 29% to 19%.
New Delhi reacts to Trump’s threats against India
Even though the US is still trading with Russia, Trump has been threatening to raise reciprocal tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. The Republican leader threatened India once more on Monday, stating that he would significantly increase tariffs on Indian goods, going beyond the 25% tariffs that have already been raised.
In addition to purchasing enormous quantities of Russian oil, India is also making significant profits by selling a large portion of the oil on the open market. The number of people killed by the Russian War Machine in Ukraine is irrelevant to them. As a result, I will be significantly increasing the tariff that India pays to the United States,” Trump stated in a post on Truth Social.
However, India retaliated against Trump by reminding him that the US “actively encouraged such imports” when it started importing from Russia following the start of the conflict in Ukraine. The European Union’s position of targeting Indian refiners for their crude exports was also rebutted by the foreign ministry.
The foreign ministry claims that although India’s imports are “a necessity compelled by the global market situation,” the countries that criticise it are “engaging in trade with Russia” even though “such trade is not even a vital compulsion.”
The trade agreement between the countries and Russia was also mentioned.
“In 2024, the European Union and Russia engaged in bilateral trade worth 67.5 billion euros in goods. In 2023, its services trade was estimated to be worth 17.2 billion euros. Compared to India’s total trade with Russia that year or later, this is a substantial increase. In actuality, European LNG imports in 2024 hit a record 16.5 million tonnes, breaking the previous record of 15.21 million tonnes in 2022. In addition to energy, trade between Europe and Russia also involves fertilizer’s, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, machinery, and transportation equipment, according to a ministry statement.
Disclaimer:
This article is based on publicly available information and social media posts. It does not reflect the official stance of any government unless explicitly mentioned.
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