India's foreign minister said on Saturday that trade negotiations with Washington are continuing but there are lines that New Delhi needs to defend, just days before hefty additional U.S. tariffs are due to hit.

China’s envoy to India has said Beijing “firmly stands with India” and denounced the US as a “bully” for imposing a 50 per cent tariff on New Delhi, in the latest sign of warning ties between the long hostile Asian giants.

India and Russia agreed to boost trade ties on Thursday as their foreign ministers met in Moscow, giving little indication that U.S. President Donald Trump's hefty tariffs on India for buying Russian oil would disrupt their relations.

India is surprised by Washington’s U-turn on Russian oil purchases as the U.S. used to encourage the country to buy oil from Russia, its foreign minister claimed. The statement comes as a White House advisor indicated the Trump administration intends to proceed with a planned hike of tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s oil

India and Russia have committed to deepen bilateral trade ties, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's hefty tariffs on the South Asian country for ramping up purchases of Russian oil. India and Russia have set a bilateral trade target of $100B by 2030.