India rejects US offer to purchase F-35 fighter jets

India has refused to buy American F-35 fighter jets, despite an offer from Donald Trump made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington, writes Bloomberg, citing its sources.

According to the agency's interlocutors, India does not plan to buy additional American weapons but is discussing other steps to ease trade tensions, such as increasing imports of liquefied gas, telecommunications equipment, and gold from the US.

The decision to refuse the fighters was made against the backdrop of information that Trump has promised to impose a 25% tariff on Indian goods. The US president called India's economy "dead" on social media and accused the country's authorities of creating "burdensome and outrageous" trade barriers for US goods. In addition, Trump has threatened Delhi with sanctions for buying energy and weapons from Russia.