According to trade data shared with Reuters, India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from one year ago. In total, it imported Russian oil worth about £38bn in the financial year ending March 2025.

In an executive order, Trump says "I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil" and due to those purchases, imports of Indian goods into the United States "shall be subject to an additional ... rate of duty of 25%."

For years, India has balanced close partnerships with both Washington and Moscow, even throughout Ukraine war. Trump is finally demanding it picks a side