'US never had a president who...': Jaishankar on Trump's policy swings; says 'don't buy if you don't like it'

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said US President Donald Trump conducts his foreign policy, including trade, in a very public manner. He also emphasised that India’s purchase of Russian oil was not discussed before Trump’s announcement raising tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent.

Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum 2025, Jaishankar said, “We’ve not had a US President who’s conducted foreign policy as publicly as the current one. That itself is a departure that’s not limited to India.”

‘Don’t buy if you don’t like it’: EAM

On India’s energy security, he added, “It’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business. 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.” He defended India’s oil purchases from Russia, saying they serve both national and global interests.

Jaishankar emphasised that India will continue to make independent decisions, even as trade remains a “sticking point” with the US. “President Trump’s way of dealing with the world, even dealing with his own country, is a very major departure from the traditional orthodox manner of doing so,” he said.

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The minister added that Trump’s use of tariffs for both trade and non-trade matters is unusual. “The first pronouncement from the Trump administration is often made first in public, and then to the concerned party. The fact that a lot of this is said in public… This is a situation which the entire world is facing,” Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar highlighted three key points in India-US relations under Trump. The first is trade. “Negotiations are still going on. But the bottom line is we have some red lines. Negotiations are still going on in the sense that nobody said the negotiations are off. People do talk to each other. It’s not like there’s a ‘kutti’ there… Where we are concerned, the red lines are primarily the interests of our farmers and, to some extent, of our small producers,” he said.

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The second issue is being framed as an oil problem. According to the EAM, “The same arguments which are being used to target India have not been applied to the largest oil importer, China and the largest energy importer, which is the European Union.”