India is reportedly pausing plans to procure new weapons and aircraft from the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on Indian exports. According to Reuters, citing three Indian officials, the move comes after Trump’s administration imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods, raising the total duty to 50 percent.
The Indian government has denied the reports, with a Ministry of Defence source describing them as “false and fabricated.” However, two officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that India had been planning to send Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement on some of the purchases, but that the trip had been cancelled.
The pause in arms purchases could strain US-India relations, which have been growing in recent years. The two countries have forged a close partnership, driven by their shared strategic rivalry with China. India is the world’s second-largest arms importer, and the US has been trying to increase its share of the Indian defense market.
According to Reuters, discussions on India’s purchases of Stryker combat vehicles, Javelin antitank missiles, and six Boeing P8I reconnaissance aircraft had been paused due to the tariffs. Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in February announced plans to pursue procurement and joint production of these items.
India has said it is being unfairly targeted by the US and that Washington and its European allies continue to trade with Moscow when it is in their interest. One official said the defence purchases could go ahead once India had clarity on tariffs and the direction of bilateral ties, but “just not as soon as they were expected to.”
Written instructions had not been given to pause the purchases, another official said, indicating that India had the option to quickly reverse course. The broader US-India defence partnership, which includes intelligence sharing and joint military exercises, continues without hiccups, one of the Indian officials said.
The rupture in US-India ties was abrupt, and there have been strains in the relationship. New Delhi has repeatedly rebutted Trump’s claim that the US brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.
Moscow has been actively pitching India on buying new defence technologies, including its S-500 surface-to-air missile system. However, India currently does not see a need for new arms purchases from Moscow, two Indian officials said. The decades-long partnership between the two powers means Indian military systems will continue to require Moscow’s support, one of the officials said.