Washington, DC [US] September 6 (ANI): Amid ongoing trade tensions between India and the United States, former Ambassador of India to France and Monaco, Jawed Ashraf, on Saturday said that New Delhi does not need to depend on any country to manage its external affairs and must firmly stand by its own interests.

Rejecting the notion that India must align itself with competing global blocs, Ashraf said, 'Indians and India need to get out of this mindset that either we have to be in one camp or we have to be in another camp. We are not a small, weak country that needs these crutches in our external relationships. We are a country that can stand in our corner, act in accordance with our values, our principles, and our interests, and have the capacity to conduct our relations with not just major powers, but even if they have differences among themselves, we will deal with each relationship on the strength of its merit. And it is true of every relationship that we have. We never act against one country for another country or on behalf of one country against another.'

His remarks came in the backdrop of a recent statement by US President Donald Trump, who claimed on his Truth Social platform that Washington had 'lost India to China.' Asked later about the statement, Trump clarified that Washington had not 'lost' India, but expressed dissatisfaction with New Delhi's decisions on Russian oil purchases.

'I don't think we have. I've been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia. I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 per cent, very high tariff. I get along very well with PM Modi, as you know. He was here a couple of months ago, in fact, we went to the Rose Garden and had a press conference,' Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.

The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India, along with an additional 25 per cent for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.

Ashraf noted that while tensions in bilateral dialogue remain, some recent statements indicate a 'lowering of the temperature.'

He added, 'These are early days. We still have to wait and watch. But we have seen in this statement and some of the statements that have been made in the past few days are a definite lowering of temperature... We take that as a positive sign. But we are still conscious of the fact that there is still a 50% tariff rate on Indian products... These things had reached a level from where we are sort of rebuilding this.'

The former envoy reminded that India has always followed an independent line, especially on sensitive regional matters. 'Those who have a long history of dealing with India in the US will always remember that India has always rejected third-party mediation or role in any relationship or any issue between India and Pakistan,' he said.

On India's ties with Russia, Ashraf said that the West's relationship with Moscow has long been 'fraught,' even before the Ukraine war. He recalled that the US had earlier pressured India against purchasing S-400 from Russia, but New Delhi stood firm and Washington eventually relented.

'US-Russia relations or West relations with Russia have always been fraught, even before the Ukraine war. There was pressure on us not to buy the S-400 with threats of secondary sanctions cuts. We stood our ground. The United States relented. And we could pursue... Same thing happened with oil. The same thing is happening with oil,' he said.

Speaking about China, Ashraf said, 'With China, we've had a complicated relationship. It is our principal geopolitical, economic and security challenge. Our challenges exist at the bilateral, regional, and global levels.' (ANI)