India and Russia share a “steady, time-tested partnership”, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

This comes two days after United States President Donald Trump threatened to impose a “penalty” on New Delhi for buying a large portion of its military equipment and fuel from Russia amid the war on Ukraine.

“Our ties with any country stand on their merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press conference.

Jaiswal on Friday also said that India and the United States share a partnership based on shared interests and people-to-people ties.

“This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges,” the spokesperson said. “We remain focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have committed to and are confident that the relationship will continue to move forward.”

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order reimposing so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that have not negotiated separate trade agreements with it, including India.

A day earlier, Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from India, and said that the US would levy an unspecified “penalty” on New Delhi for buying military equipment from Russia. While Friday was the deadline for the tariffs, they will come into effect only from August 7.

The executive order makes no mention of the “penalty”.

On Wednesday evening, India’s commerce ministry said that New Delhi was studying the implications of the US’ decision, and that it would take all steps necessary to secure national interests.

On Thursday, Trump said that he does not care about “what India does with Russia” and that “they can take their dead economies down together, for all I care”.

“We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” Trump said on social media. “Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together.”