As India faces escalating economic pressure from the US, its regional rival Pakistan hails closer ties with Washington.

India defended its Russian oil imports, calling US and EU criticism unreasonable, citing Western encouragement to diversify energy sources after the Ukraine conflict began. India also pointed to continued substantial EU and US trade with Russia.

The European Union announced Monday it was pausing a plan to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as it continued trade negotiations with the Trump administration