The US and the EU cannot decide with which countries India should trade and cannot determine its foreign policy decisions, no matter how important their ties with New Delhi are, The Hindu newspaper wrote in an editorial.

“Neither the U.S. nor the EU can decide which country India will partner or trade with,” the newspaper noted. “India’s sovereignty is non-negotiable and its foreign policy choices cannot be manipulated by other countries, no matter how significant their own ties with India are.”

That message is being underlined in visits by Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Moscow, to prepare for the Russian President’s visit to India later this year, the newspaper emphasized.

The Hindu recalled a recent statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, in which New Delhi called the attacks of Washington and Brussels on India's imports of Russian oil baseless.

The statement “indicates New Delhi’s growing frustration with the U.S.’s increasingly offensive positions against India, including on immigration, trade negotiations, Operation Sindoor and Pakistan, and India’s BRICS membership," The Hindu said.

At the same time, the newspaper notes that it is unclear how and to what extent the Indian government is prepared to stand up to the “bullying tactics” of US President Donald Trump.

Trump on Monday wrote on Truth Social that he will considerably increase tariffs against India for the import and resale of Russian oil.