Politics
India’s Jaishankar takes swipe at Trump foreign policy, rejects US mediation claim
- Jaishankar defends Russian oil trade against US profiteering claims.
- Trade tensions rise as Trump threatens higher tariffs on India.
- Minister stresses India’s strategic autonomy priorities.
KARACHI: India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar lashed out at US President Donald Trump’s unconventional style of diplomacy, describing it as a break from established international practice.
He also once again dismissed Washington’s assertion that it played a mediating role in the recent India-Pakistan confrontation.
Addressing a press gathering in New Delhi, Jaishankar remarked that no previous US president had conducted diplomacy in such a public manner, saying Trump’s approach marked a sharp departure from traditional, behind-the-scenes foreign policy.
His remarks come as the deadline looms for Trump’s additional tariffs on Indian goods, which could see duties rise to as much as 50%, with further penalties linked to India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
On trade, Jaishankar said that India’s farmers and small producers would remain non-negotiable priorities, claiming: “When it comes to trade, the interests of farmers, when it comes to our strategic autonomy, when it comes to opposition to mediation, this government is very clear. Our positions are there. If anybody disagrees with us, please tell the people of India that you are not prepared to defend the interests of farmers. Please tell the people of India you don’t value strategic autonomy”.
Jaishankar dismissed criticism from Washington that India was “profiteering” by refining and re-exporting Russian oil, saying, “It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing others of doing business”.
He added: “If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. Europe buys, America buys, so you don’t like it, don’t buy it”.
The minister also rejected Trump’s statements that Washington had mediated the ceasefire that ended the four-day India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year.
“On the issue of mediating (India-Pak conflict), since 1970s, for more than 50 years now, there’s a national consensus in this country that we do not accept mediation in our relations with Pakistan”, claimed the Indian foreign minister.
Clarifying the role of external players during the skirmish, Jaishankar acknowledged that international outreach was routine but not determinative.
“Phone calls were made by the US, phone calls were made by other countries as well. This is not a secret. At least in my case, every American phone call I had is there on my ‘X’ account… It is quite different to assert a mediation or to assert that an outcome which was negotiated between India and Pakistan was not negotiated between India and Pakistan; it was…”.
Jaishankar further underlined that while “trade is really the major issue between our countries,” negotiations with Washington are still ongoing despite the cancellation of a planned US delegation visit in August.
At the same time, Jaishankar pushed back against speculation that India’s engagement with China was linked to friction with the US, calling such views simplistic. He also took aim at Washington’s historical ties with Islamabad, saying: “They have a history with each other, and they have a history of overlooking that history”.
Indian police this week seized 414 cooking‑gas canisters hidden in a graveyard in Hyderabad city and arrested those involved in trying to sell them on the black market amid shortages due to the Iran war, a government official said on Thursday.
Authorities have stepped up raids to curb hoarding of liquefied petroleum gas canisters after the US-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipping, causing supply shortages. India, the world’s No 2 LPG importer, meets about 60% of its demand through overseas purchases, mostly from the Middle East.
“Just yesterday, around 2,600 raids were carried out and about 700 cylinders were seized,” Sujata Sharma, a senior official in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told a regular briefing on the Middle East crisis.
“In addition, around 400 cylinders were recently found at one location inside a graveyard in Hyderabad. Ten people have been detained there, and the distributor involved has been suspended,” she said.
Police said the accused had been selling both commercial and domestic canisters from the graveyard at nearly three times the current market price. A commercial canister that costs about 2,100 Indian rupees ($22) had been sold for as much as 6,000 rupees.
The total value of the seized canisters and some vehicles used by the accused was nearly 2.2 million rupees, police said. Reuters could not immediately contact the accused or their representatives.
“The supply of natural gas to domestic consumers is 100% assured,” Sharma said. “With regard to LPG supply, prices have remained stable despite international volatility, and there has been no increase in the price of domestic LPG cylinders.”
To ease the pressure on LPG supplies, India has been promoting the use of alternatives such as kerosene, coal and biogas, while accelerating the rollout of piped natural gas for households.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump made fun of the French president and his wife during a private lunch Wednesday, as he lambasted Nato allies for not joining the war against Iran that has roiled the Middle East.
“We didn’t need them, but I asked anyway,” Trump told a private lunch in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel before access was blocked.
“I call up France, Macron — whose wife treats him extremely badly. Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump said.
He was referring to a May 2025 news video that appeared to show Brigitte Macron shoving the French president’s face on a trip to Vietnam, which Macron later rejected as part of a disinformation campaign.
“And I said, ‘Emmanuel, we’d love to have some help in the Gulf even though we’re setting records on knocking out bad people and knocking out ballistic missiles. We’d love to have some help. If you could, could you please send ships immediately,'” Trump continued.
He then mimics a French accent to give Macron’s alleged answer: “‘No no no, we cannot do that, Donald. We can do that after the war is won,'” he said.
“I said, ‘No no, I don’t need after the war is won Emmanuel,'” Trump said.
“So I learned about Nato — Nato won’t be there if we ever have the big one, you know what I mean by the big one,” Trump said, without elaborating.
He also branded Nato a “paper tiger,” the latest salvo by Trump and his top officials against the transatlantic alliance since he returned to the White House last year.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “is going to have to reexamine” its relationship with Nato once the war against Iran has concluded.
Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi was seriously wounded in a strike that also claimed the life of his wife, Iranian media reported.
Still an adviser to the government, Kharazi had given an interview to CNN a few weeks ago.
According to the newspapers Shargh, Etemad and Ham Mihan, his home in Tehran was targeted on Wednesday in a US-Israeli strike.
He was badly injured and hospitalised following the attack, the outlets said.
Kharazi had served as foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 under reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.
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