Indian geopolitical experts have slammed US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for his latest remarks on India, calling him "downright arrogant" for speaking disparagingly of India, showing no respect for India’s sovereignty.

Former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, reacting to Lutnick's latest statements on India, accused the US of issuing public threats and making it difficult to find common ground while eliminating any chance of "quiet diplomacy" to resolve differences between the two countries. The trade talks between India and the US are currently on shaky ground after the US imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods.  

Kanwal said the US not only demands that India stop buying Russian oil, but Lutnick also wants India to leave BRICS. "The US wants to direct India’s foreign policy. Getting pleasure from inflicting economic pain on India with 50% tariffs...we have made good offers, but there are red lines."

Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow at think tank ORF, also reacted to Lutnick's remarks, saying "the Trumpians don’t want a deal; they want capitulation, they want to make India grovel, they want to humiliate India, and they want to rub Modi’s nose in the dust."

The remarks came after Lutnick, during a TV interview, said: "They (India) either need to decide which side they want to be on…. India doesn't yet want to open their market…stop buying Russian oil...stop being a part of BRICS...support the United States and the dollar or face a 50% tariff...India will say sorry to the US."

Lutnick's remarks followed Donald Trump's post on his Truth social media platform, in which the US President criticised India and Russia for increasing ties with "deepest, darkest, China" amid the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China.

The US President, sharing a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, wrote: "Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!"

Reacting to Trump's post, Sibal said if taken literally, Trump’s post implies the US has concluded that India-US ties have irretrievably broken down. "Is he, therefore, reconciled to this and does not intend to make any effort to undo his punitive approach to India. Could this mean new coercive steps against India...this post is emblematic in a way of inept, maladroit, whimsical, mistaken. If one should not take his outbursts too seriously, that itself is a commentary on the leadership of the world’s most powerful country."

Trump's comments, especially with regard to India, bear significance in the wake of the US's recent announcement of a 50% duty on Indian exports entering the US territory. Though negotiations between the two countries are moving forward, albeit at a slow pace, India seems to be revisiting its ties with other global players like China. Meanwhile, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, addressing the media today, declined to comment on Trump's post about PM Modi, saying he has no comments to offer at this time.