India dismisses report on halting U.S. defence purchases as "false and fabricated"

New Delhi, Aug 08: A senior officer of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refuted a Reuters report claiming that India has paused major arms deals with the United States in retaliation to new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, calling the story "false and fabricated."

A senior official from the MoD told that the claims made in the Reuters article including the alleged suspension of negotiations for Stryker combat vehicles, Javelin missiles, and Boeing P-8I aircraft, are baseless and not grounded in facts.

“There is no such decision. The report is false and fabricated,” the official said, responding to Reuters assertions that India had put key defence procurements on hold and cancelled Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s planned visit to Washington.

The Reuters story, quoting unnamed officials, claimed that India had delayed U.S. defence purchases after President Trump slapped an additional 25% duty on Indian exports on August 6, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil. The report also suggested that India was open to reducing oil imports from Russia as part of a broader tariff settlement.