Guwahati, Aug. 5 -- India on Monday dismissed former US President Donald Trump's threats to impose higher tariffs over its continued imports of Russian oil, calling the remarks "unjustified and unreasonable."

The Ministry of External Affairs said India would take all necessary steps to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

The response came after Trump, in a social media post, accused India of buying "massive amounts" of Russian oil and reselling it on the global market for profit. Linking the issue to the war in Ukraine, Trump threatened to "substantially raise" tariffs on Indian imports to the United States, without specifying the scale of the proposed levies.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal s...