U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of additional tariffs on India is a result of “flawed assumptions” and New Delhi is being dragged into a geopolitical tug of war in which it does not intend to participate, officials of the Ministry of External Affairs are poised to tell the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs on Monday (August 11, 2025). The officials may also highlight the bipartisan nature of India-U.S. relationship and argue that ties prospered under “both BJP and Congress-led governments”.

The meeting of the Committee on External Affairs is being convened after the U.S. administration cited India’s purchase of Russian oil as a trigger for additional 25% tariffs on top of the 25% ‘reciprocal’ tariffs announced before.

In the meeting, the MEA team is expected to have a pragmatic approach to the latest challenges to the India-U.S. relationship and inform the Committee that despite the difficulties, India remains “committed to engaging constructively” with the United States about the issues through “dialogue and mutual respect”.

‘Unilateral, punitive measures’

It is learned that the Committee will be told that the U.S. decisions do not “reflect the realities of global energy markets or India’s sovereign choices” and that India considers the tariffs “unilateral, punitive measures” that hurt global trade norms. The MEA team is expected to provide the Indian assessment of the motivation behind the actions of the U.S. President. The officials believe that the White House regards Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine as an “ongoing threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy” that requires “strengthened measures”.

Prior to the Executive Order signed by President Trump on August 6, 2025, India and the United States had been in negotiations for a “fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement”. The MEA team is expected to tell the MPs in the Parliamentary Committee about what is perceived as “double standards” in U.S. policy regarding trade with Russia.

The Committee will also receive a detailed presentation of the historical nature of India-U.S. relationship with an emphasis on “shared democratic values, open societies, converging strategic and economic interests and robust people to people ties”. The officials are likely to provide an overview of the “bipartisan” nature of the relationship and how under both BJP- and Congress-led governments, the relationship has been nurtured and “deepened”. Similar consensus between the Republicans and the Democrats in the U.S. are also expected to be in focus during the discussion.

The Committee members are also likely to hear about the support President Trump has provided to India’s core concern of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, especially after the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. In this regard, President Trump’s approval of extradition of 26/11 attack-linked Tahawwur Rana to India is also likely to be part of the presentation. A similar mention of the declaration of The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and (Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is also expected during discussions at the Committee meeting.