India's defence deals with Russia, move against dollar 'rub US the wrong way': Lutnick

India’s buying of Russian military equipment and “move to not support the dollar” have posed challenges to ties with the United States and that is “not the way to make friends in America”, US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick said on June 3.

However, both nations have addressed the concerns and are now in a "really good place", Lutnick said, as the two countries hold discussions to seal the first phase of a trade deal.

"...There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way. For instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America if you're going to buy your armaments from Russia,” Lutnick said during an event in Washington DC.

“I think India starting to move towards buying military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way. And these kinds of things just creating that relationship being a part of BRICS, which is, oh, let's move to not support the dollar and dollar hegemony. That's not really the way to make friends and influence people in America,” he added.