Amid escalating tensions between India and the United States over trade and energy policy, the Indian Army has highlighted America’s long history of arming Pakistan—a key point as President Trump ramps up criticism of India’s Russian oil imports and threatens new tariffs. On August 5, the Army’s Eastern Command shared a 1971 newspaper article revealing that, since 1954, the US had shipped over $2 billion worth of military equipment to Pakistan. These shipments included fighter aircraft, missiles, tanks, submarines, and artillery—support that continued even after Pakistan’s military crackdown in East Bengal in 1971.
This historical context has resurfaced as recent US criticism targets India’s purchase of discounted Russian crude, accusing New Delhi of indirectly aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. President Trump has warned that tariffs on Indian goods could rise by 25% or more due to these trades. In response, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) firmly rejected the US stance as “unjustified and unreasonable,” highlighting Western double standards: the US and the EU both continue to trade with Russia, including importing nuclear materials, even as they pressure India to curb Russian oil purchases. The MEA also pointed out that India’s increased imports from Russia only began after traditional suppliers diverted resources to Europe at the start of the Ukraine conflict, out of necessity to secure affordable energy for India’s 1.4 billion people.