Because we live in a morally confused world, trying to make sense of anything nowadays is a totally futile exercise. Despite their publicly stated goal of depriving Russia of the funds it needs to sustain its war machine, Western leaders winked and nodded as India and China purchased millions of barrels of Russian oil in the last three-and-a-half years that Russia has been waging its barbaric war on Ukraine. The thinking has always been that taking Russian oil completely off the market would cause global energy prices to skyrocket, and politicians would pay a heavy price at the ballot box. To avoid that scenario, the West largely allowed Russian oil flows but imposed a price cap on them. India and China gleefully took advantage of the discounted prices.

India’s proclamation of neutrality on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war is one of the worst examples of moral confusion. India is the world’s largest democracy. It is also a signatory to the Charter of the United Nations. Article 2 of the Charter states, in part: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of the principles of Article 2. Did India forget the content of the document it signed?

The amnesia notwithstanding, India’s angry complaint against President Trump’s threatened tariffs on the country for its buying of Russian oil has some justification. India already faced a 25 percent tariff on its exports to the U.S. President Trump has said that he will soon impose an additional 25 percent if India does not stop its procurement of Russian oil. That prompted India to accuse the U.S., and the West broadly, of applying a double standard when it comes to purchases of Russian energy products. Although Europe has substantially reduced its reliance on Russian oil and gas, it continues to import some quantities of Russian gas—via pipeline and in the form of LNG.

What seems to have upset India the most is the fact that China, which actually buys more oil from Russia than India does, has not been similarly threatened with punitive tariffs related to the Russian oil purchases. As India sees it, it is being picked on because it doesn’t have as much leverage over the U.S. as China does. That is a slight that a proud nation like India, which sees itself as an emerging global power, will not take kindly to.

President Trump may want to be a bit more careful about his treatment of India. It is the only country in the BRICS alliance that is not actively working to destroy America. India has also pushed back on the effort by BRICS to create a currency to supplant the dollar. This administration has already done too much damage alienating several close allies, including Canada. The last thing we need is to have our president drive a country like India into the arms of the autocrats.