In Court, White House Ties Tariffs To India-Pak Truce, India Again Rejects Claim

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – India has once again firmly denied any connection between U.S.-imposed tariffs and the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan. This fresh rejection from New Delhi comes after the Trump administration, in a New York court, asserted that President Donald Trump’s tariffs were instrumental in de-escalating the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

On May 28, the Trump administration urged a New York court not to halt President Trump’s sweeping tariffs, arguing that doing so could trigger undesirable actions from China and even lead to a resumption of the India-Pakistan conflict.

White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, represented the administration in a case brought by small businesses challenging the President’s use of a “national emergency” to impose tariffs.

In court, the administration claimed President Trump has leveraged tariffs to “fix” global issues. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick specifically cited the “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan as a direct result of President Trump’s “intervention.” Describing the truce as “tenuous,” Lutnick claimed both sides agreed to cease military actions only after President Trump offered expanded trade in exchange for peace. He warned that an adverse ruling, by constraining presidential power, could lead India and Pakistan to “question the validity of President Trump’s offer, threatening the security of an entire region and the lives of millions.”

India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, on May 29 once again unequivocally debunked these claims. While acknowledging conversations with the U.S. he stated: “the issue of tariffs never came up in these discussions.”