Daijiworld Media Network- Washington

Washington, Sep 2: The Donald Trump administration has expressed confidence that trade tensions with India will be resolved soon, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating that “two great countries will get this solved.”

Speaking to Fox Business, Bessent criticised India’s continued purchase of Russian crude despite heavy US tariffs, alleging that the oil trade was financing Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine. He also dismissed the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, calling it “largely performative.”

Highlighting India’s democratic values, Bessent remarked that they are “much closer to ours than to Russia’s,” but admitted that New Delhi’s crude imports from Moscow and the slow pace of bilateral trade talks had contributed to President Trump’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on India—the highest among Asian nations.

“I think at the end of the day, two great countries will get this solved. But the Indians have not been great actors in terms of buying Russian oil and then reselling it, financing the Russian war effort,” he said.

Earlier, Trump had termed trade with India a “one-sided disaster” and accused New Delhi of blocking American goods through high tariffs.

On the Ukraine crisis, Bessent warned that Washington was prepared to consider additional sanctions on Moscow if President Putin continued his offensive despite recent peace talks in Anchorage, Alaska. “With President Trump, all options are on the table, and I think we’ll be examining those very closely this week,” he added.