US decision to impose tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil is a “disrespectful and ignorant policy”, American journalist and political commentator Rick Sanchez and host of the ‘Sanchez Effect’ on Russia Today, has said while noting that Donald Trump sometimes makes decisions based on “grudges and non-scientific thinking” and that India has been “very smart to hold its ground.”

In an interview with ANI, Rick Sanchez said the US decision on secondary tariffs is “extremely preposterous in the eyes of most people” and amounts to treating India like schoolchildren who need to be told what to do. He asserted that “India’s the big boy, not a schoolchild” and when New Delhi conveyed that the US cannot tell from where to buy or not buy oil from, “it was such a cataclysmic, transformational moment”.

“It’s a disrespectful and ignorant policy (of the Trump Administration)… Because they don’t understand the underpinnings of what caused the Ukraine war from the standpoint of Russia… You have to take that into account, which PM Modi has to some regard… The disrespectful part comes when you start treating a country like India with its history, resources and capabilities like a schoolchild. Too many people think India started with Gandhi… However, what India has done for the world is every bit as important, if not more so, as what Europe and Mesopotamia have achieved… It’s almost like they’re treating India like they’re schoolchildren who need to be told what to do. India’s the big boy, not a schoolchild,” he said.

“When India looked back at the US and said, ‘You will not tell us who we can or cannot buy oil from, ‘ it was such a cataclysmic, transformational moment. Historians will one day look back and say, that’s when power started to truly decline from the old European US that was running the World since World War II… That doesn’t mean the United States is in a downfall. From a power standpoint, it’s going to shift to the global South, in which the premier countries are going to be India and China, along with Russia, South Africa and Brazil,” he added. He was asked about Donald Trump imposing a penalty on India for purchasing Russian oil.

Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods in July and further imposed 25 per cent secondary tariffs for importing Russian oil, taking the total to 50 per cent.

Sanchez also referred to Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered ceasefire between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor even as New Delhi has made it clear that there was no third-party mediation and the cessation of hostilities took place after Pakistan DGMO called his Indian counterpart. American multinational investment bank and financial services company Jefferies said in a recent report that steep 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian goods are largely a result of President Donald Trump’s “personal pique” at not being allowed to mediate in the India-Pakistan conflict.

“Is Trump the kind of person who sometimes makes decisions based on vendettas, grudges, and non-scientific thinking? Yes, of course he is,” Sanchez said, when asked about Jefferies’ report.

“One of the things that many American leaders begrudge today, and it’s worse today than it’s been in the past, is a failure to want to understand the genesis, the history, and the culture of any problem. Their reaction is often based on what they saw on cable news… Would I be surprised if we found out down the line that somehow he felt personally insulted by the fact that PM Modi didn’t hail him as the saviour of the Pakistan-India conflict? Does it fit the way Trump has carried out some of his policies? Yeah, of course it does,” he said.

Asked about US President Donald Trump’s aide Peter Navarro calling the Russia-Ukraine war PM Modi’s war, Sanchez said, “That’s absolutely laughable”. “He’s not a very smart man. He’s never been regarded as a big thinker,” Sanchez noted.

“When it comes to understanding geopolitics, especially from a Global-South community, my country is just so dumb… They know absolutely nothing about India’s history, or the relationship between India and China and vis-a-vis Russia and Ukraine. As a result, they make foolish statements like this… While the neocons, war machines, and people who make money selling weapons are in Trump’s ear, trying to convince him at all costs that he has to go after India, or Russia, or China, somewhere down deep, Trump instinctively realises that if he does that, he’s picking the wrong horse in the race,” he said.

Sanchez referred to the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending.

“This meeting between PM Modi and President Xi, and President Putin is transformational… I think Trump has figured this out because right now he’s been treating the Europeans and the Global-South community as equals… Not that he’s treating anybody well, but at least he’s finding that there’s some equilibrium when it comes to these countries,” he said.

Sanchez said President Trump’s moves have likely pushed India towards an economic embrace of China.

“I sense that PM Modi didn’t make the full commitment to start this economic embrace until after he, and the Indian government, felt disrespected to the point where they started thinking it’s time to redevelop this relationship… Is it a Machiavellian play on the part of PM Modi and President Xi where they want to send a message to the world, and specifically to Donald Trump, that ‘You’re creating this union. Be careful who you mess with, because the bigger you make us, the smaller you make yourself.’ Perhaps. Or does it go further where they will sit down for business and say it’s time to go after the big guy?… We’ll see what comes out of this,” he said.

On NaftoRynok’s report, which shows that India became Ukraine’s largest diesel supplier in July, Sanchez said it is amusing.

“I was reading the same report and I was aghast… A new brouhaha is going on in Europe, where Hungarian PM Orban is angry with Zelenskyy for blowing up the Druzhba pipeline that goes from Russia… This is dumb. He actually blew up a pipeline, thinking he wanted to hurt his neighbours, but this is now causing an escalation between him and Hungary. However, this same pipeline also supplied fuel to his own people. You can’t make this stuff up,” he said.

Asked about Trump singling out India for its purchases of Russian oil and not imposing sanctions on China and Europe, which continues to buy oil and gas from Russia, Sanchez said “he’s haphazard in his approach”.

“There’s no particular rhyme or reason to who he sanctions or why he sanctions them or when he sanctions them. And that’s not good. You have to have some sense of stability and consistency,” he said.

He said that the United States knows it “it can’t be too harsh on China,” even as Beijing is the largest importer of Russian oil.

“China has loaned us so much that our economy is based on everything China does, not just in terms of the products that 90% of the products in any Walmart, which is where America shops, come from China. The rest may come from Vietnam and parts of Malaysia. But in the end, they make the products and they loan us the money to fight the wars that we then fight in to be able to keep our production base, which is the only one we seem to have these days, which is the weapons production going,” he said.

“So it’s a very cyclical and weird arrangement where the United States knows that it can’t be too harsh on China because if it rips China up, it rips itself up. It’s kind of like a double suicide. And I think Trump knows that,” he added.

India had termed the US decision on tariffs on it as “extremely unfortunate”.

“The United States has in recent days targeted India’s oil imports from Russia. We have already made our position clear on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and are done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of India’s 1.4 billion people. It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US should choose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest,” MEA spokesperson said in a statement earlier this month.

“We reiterate that these actions are unfair, unjustified and unreasonable. India will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests,” it added.

In his statement on June 18 on the telephone conversation between PM Modi and US President, Foreign Secretary Vikarm Misri said that Prime Minister Modi “clearly conveyed to President Trump that at no point during this entire sequence of events was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US Trade Deal, or any proposal for a mediation by the US between India and Pakistan”.

“The discussion to cease military action took place directly between India and Pakistan through the existing channels of communication between the two armed forces, and it was initiated at Pakistan’s request. Prime Minister Modi firmly stated that India does not and will never accept mediation. There is complete political consensus in India on this matter,” he said.

“President Trump listened carefully to the points conveyed by the Prime Minister and expressed his support towards India’s fight against terrorism. Prime Minister Modi also stated that India no longer views terrorism as a proxy war, but as a war itself, and that India’s Operation Sindoor is still ongoing. President Trump enquired if Prime Minister Modi could stop over in the US on his way back from Canada. Due to prior commitments, Prime Minister Modi expressed his inability to do so. Both leaders agreed to make efforts to meet in the near future,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)