United States President Donald Trump on Friday told Fox News that his decision to impose punitive levies on India for purchasing Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine had strained ties between Washington and New Delhi.

“Look, India was their [Russia’s] biggest customer,” Trump said during an interview to the American news network. “I put a 50% tariff on India because they’re buying oil from Russia. That’s not an easy thing to do.”

The imposition of levies on New Delhi was a “big deal”, the US president said. “And it causes a rift with India,” he added.

The ties between New Delhi and Washington have strained in recent months, mainly because Trump imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and punitive levies for purchasing Russian oil.

Trump has repeatedly alleged that India’s imports were fuelling Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In August, the Trump administration doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil. A 25% so-called reciprocal tariff had already taken effect.

At the time, New Delhi said that it was “extremely unfortunate” that the US had chosen to impose additional tariffs on India “for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest”.

Negotiators from both countries had completed a fifth round of trade talks in Washington in July. The next round, scheduled for August 25, was abruptly cancelled and no fresh dates were announced.

However, Trump had said on Tuesday that he was looking forward to speaking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about trade in the coming weeks.

He said on social media that India and the US were continuing negotiations to address the trade barriers between the two countries. “I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our great countries!” Trump added.

Hours later, Modi expressed confidence that the trade negotiations would “pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential” of the partnership between the two countries.

Modi also described India and the US as close friends and natural partners. Teams from both sides were working to conclude the trade discussions at the earliest, he said on social media.

The social media posts on Tuesday came four days after Modi and Trump exchanged another set of positive comments.

Responding to comments made by Trump on September 5 that New Delhi and Washington “have a special relationship”, Modi had said a day later that he appreciates the US president’s “positive assessment” of the bilateral ties.

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