Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday he will not compromise the interests of the country's farmers even if he has to pay a heavy price, in his first comments after U.S. President Donald Trump's salvo of a 50% tariff on Indian goods.

The Indian prime minister has said his country "is ready" to react to President Donald Trump's additional 25 percent levy on goods entering the U.S.

Trump has now imposed a total of 50% tariffs on goods imported from India, and his earlier threat of levying an extra 10% for the country's membership in the Brics grouping, which includes China, Russia and South Africa as founding members, still stands.