Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 4 : After the US President Donald Trump announce a 25 percent Tariffs on India, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah on Monday expressed concerns over India being left with "no friends", claiming that US President Donald Trump has grown closer to Pakistan.
He said that India has tried to show that it is stronger than its neighbouring countries instead of reflecting that these nations ought to be together to deal with issues of an economic nature.
"We have no friends left, even our neighbours are not our friends. What we have tried to do is to show that we are stronger than they are, rather than thinking that all of us have to be together. That's why Indira Gandhi created SAARC, which aimed to bring all nations closer to us. It was meant to think about the economic issues and how to sort them out," Abdullah told ANI.
"Suddenly, Trump has become much more friendly with Pakistan. They want us not to take Russian oil. Yet they have promised Pakistan they will send crude (oil) to them and refine it, leading to their prices of petrol and diesel to come down. Already, China is behind them," he added.
Abdullah said that the nation suffers due to the problem between Trump and PM Narendra Modi. He added that the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on India were causing the value of the rupee to fall, which is affecting everyone.
"It is a problem between the two leaders - Trump and Modi. They are both strong leaders, and that is why they don't want to bow down to each other. The nation suffers in that. We have a 25 per cent tariff on our goods going to America, plus an additional penalty. In the process, the rupee is falling and the dollar is rising. This is affecting everyone," Abdullah argued.
Trump earlier said that Washington is continuing trade negotiations with India.
In response to ANI, if the US remains open to negotiating with India on the tariff front, Trump stated, "We're talking to them now. We'll see what happens. Again, India was the highest or just about the highest tariff nation in the world, one of the highest, 100 points, 150 points or percentages. So India was one of the highest in the world. They had 175 per cent and higher than that."
After announcing a 25 per cent tariff and penalties for purchasing Russian oil, he emphasised that India is one of the countries imposing high tariffs on the US.
He made the comments during a press conference at the White House, held to mark the signing of a Congressional bill.
Earlier, Trump made a shocking statement on his social media platform Truth Social after the announcement of 25 per cent tariffs against India and threatened an additional "penalty" for importing Russian oil.
"I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India; their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world." Trump said.