US President Donald Trump said on Monday that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on American goods to zero, even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making public shows of solidarity with Chinese and Russian leaders in the face of trade pressure from Washington.

While calling the US relationship with India “one-sided”, Trump wrote on social media: “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.”

The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments, which follow the implementation of total duties as high as 50 per cent on Indian goods that have raised questions about the future of the US-India relationship.

Trump’s remark came as Modi was in China for a summit of more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a China-backed initiative given renewed impetus by Trump’s global tariff offensive.

At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritises the “Global South”, in a direct challenge to Washington.