'Lost India, Russia to deepest, darkest China': Trump's cryptic post amid tariff row; wishes for 'prosperous' future

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Friday made a cryptic post expressing thinning hopes of a trade deal with India. Posting a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, it seemed, that the US had "lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China".

"Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" he said.



Meanwhile, the ministry of external affairs refused to make any comments on the matter. "I have no comments to offer on this post at this time," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.


This came after Trump hinted at "phase-2 and 3" tariffs over its continued purchase of Russian oil.

"That cost hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia, you call that no action? Then I have not done Phase-2 yet or Phase-3... Two weeks ago, I said if India buys, India has got big problems, and that's what happens," he had said.

Moreover, he had also claimed that New Delhi had offered a "no tariff" deal. "China kills us with tariffs, India kills us with tariffs, Brazil kills us with tariffs. I've understood tariffs better than they did; I understood tariffs better than any human beings in the world. India was the most highly tariffed nation in the world, and you know what, they've offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs. If I didn't have tariffs, they would never make that offer. So you have to have tariffs," Trump said on The Scott Jennings Radio Show.

Trump’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on India has sparked criticism in US political circles, particularly after an appeals court deemed the duties unlawful.