Divya Delhi : Response to growing tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, India's central bank maintained its policy rate at 5.5% Wednesday. The move was in line with Reuters economists' predictions and follows the Reserve Bank of India's 50-basis-point drop at its June meeting. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated in his monetary policy announcement that the conclusion was unanimous. Global trade issues persisted, although geopolitical risks “somewhat abated.” After the verdict, the Nifty 50 declined 0.18% and the Sensex slid slightly. The rupee gained slightly to 87.72 per dollar. The RBI's new step comes amid escalating U.S.-India trade tensions over Russia. Trump threatened India with hefty tariffs and an undefined “penalty”  for buying Russian energy and arms. Although domestic GDP is “resilient,” the central bank said foreign demand is still “uncertain amidst ongoing tariff announcements and trade negotiations.” “The growth outlook is threatened by geopolitical tensions, global uncertainties, and financial market volatility.” At the RBI's previous meeting, Malhotra said the 50-basis-point decrease in June reduced monetary policy's ability to boost growth. Thus, the RBI would become “neutral” from “accommodative.” Malhotra said the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee will carefully evaluate "incoming data and the evolving outlook to chart out the future course of monetary policy." Bank of America analysts said that the RBI "took away the punchbowl from the markets" with an early, forceful decrease. They anticipate the central bank to wait for now and only deploy policy assistance if the macroeconomic picture changes significantly.