'We get along with India very well but...': Donald Trump on tariff war with New Delhi

Trump made the remark when he was asked by a reporter on whether he mulls slashing some of the tariffs levied on India.

The President says, "No, we get along with India very well but for many years, it was a one-sided relationship.. Only now since I came along and because of the power that we have with tariffs... India was charging us tremendous tariffs, about the highest in the world.

"We therefore weren't doing much business with India but they were doing business with us because we weren't charging them foolishly, we weren't charging them so they would send in massive everything they made poured it into our country and therefore wouldn't be made here which is a negative but we would not send in anything because they were charging us 100 percent tariffs."

"Harley Davidson couldn't sell in India because there was a 200 percent tariff on a motorcycle so it built a plant in India and now they don't have to pay tariffs. The same thing is us so what we are doing is literally thousands of companies are coming into the US- car companies, AI, more traditionally car companies," he added.

Previously viewed as India-friendly, the Trump administration slapped a 25 percent tariff on the South Asian country for its high tariffs on American exports and another 25 percent for purchasing oil from Russia which is fighting a war against Ukraine.

In a strong optics of diplomacy, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took a car ride with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Tianjin.

The premiers of the two countries headed for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the meet.

Following Modi's hobnobbing with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at SCO Summit in Tianjin, Trump claimed India had offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, underscoring that New Delhi should have done so years ago.

"They have now offered to cut their tariffs to nothing, but it's getting late. They should have done so years ago," Trump posted on Truth Social.

He also said that the relationship between the two countries has been a "one-sided disaster".

India said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

Prime Minister Modi unequivocally said India won't compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and livestock rearers.