Eminent Indian American physician and community leader Dr Bharat Barai warned that India–US relations could remain strained for the foreseeable future unless Washington reverses recent tariff measures, arguing that New Delhi has been unfairly singled out amid broader global trade and energy dynamics.

In an interview with IANS, Dr Barai said the momentum built in India–US ties over several administrations had been undermined following President Donald Trump's return to the White House, particularly by trade actions driven more by politics than economics.

Dr Barai said the United States does have a trade deficit with India, but noted that addressing it should have followed a calibrated economic approach. “Doing X amount of tariffs purely on economic grounds to remove the trade deficit will be one thing, and they impose 25 per cent that so-called reciprocal duty to wipe out the trade deficit,” he said, adding that the rate should have been lower, “more like 15 per cent or so.

He was particularly critical of the additional 25 per cent duty imposed as a penalty linked to India’s imports of Russian oil. While condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Dr Barai said India had become “a sort of innocent bystander casualty” in a policy that lacked consistency.

“China is importing more oil than India, but China has a Trump card, and their Trump card is the rare earth metals,” he said, pointing to US and European dependence on Chinese rare earths for electric vehicles, defence equipment and even advanced aircraft. He also noted that several European countries continued to import Russian energy without facing comparable penalties.

“So why single out India with 25 per cent additional import duty when China is only at 47 per cent? Most European countries are around 15 per cent. There is no extra duty on Hungary or Slovenia for continuing to import Russian oil,” he said.

Dr Barai attributed the tariff decisions to a small group within the administration, naming President Trump, immigration hardliner Stephen Miller and trade adviser Peter Navarro as key drivers of the policy. He said many lawmakers privately disagreed but were reluctant to speak out.

“Many congressmen and senators are very unhappy about it in private when they have a conversation. They do admit that this is wrong, but they all are afraid that President Trump will try to take revenge on them,” he said, adding that fear of primary challenges had kept them silent.

He said recent electoral outcomes in states such as New Jersey and Virginia, as well as a mayoral election in Miami, reflected growing public discontent. “His policies are becoming very unpopular. They are totally arbitrary, made up by three people sitting in the Oval Office rather than the United States Congress,” Dr Barai said, expressing hope that the Supreme Court would eventually rule that tariffs fall under Congress’s authority.

On the outlook for bilateral ties, Dr Barai said the relationship could remain frozen unless a trade agreement removed the additional duty. He noted that some Indian companies, including Reliance, had reduced Russian oil imports following sanctions on specific Russian firms, but said India could not completely abandon a major energy source.

“For India, serving the population of 1.4 billion, wherever they can find a reliable source and cheaper source of energy, it is important,” he said, adding that India sourced only about 35 per cent of its oil from Russia while diversifying the rest from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Dr Barai said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was acting in India’s national interest and had handled pressure from Washington “very diplomatically, very politely, very gentlemanly,” without succumbing to it. “He is doing what is best for the people of India,” he said.

He also argued that India’s global standing had risen over the past year, citing closer ties with Europe, a free trade agreement with the UK, stronger engagement with Africa, and a recent defence pact with Australia. “India is respected more than before, except maybe in the United States,” he said.