Regarding the barbarians, President Donald Trump is usually cold. Remember Elon Musk? Vladimir Putin? First there is a partner, then the transaction barb. The latest example? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During Trump’s first semester, Modi attended a Texas-sized rally to celebrate the strong connection between the United States and India. Modi then brought Trump to an Indian rally at the world’s largest cricket stadium. With it, a lot of handhelds came.
Going to Trump 2.0’s flash, everything is not good among the Trump-Mody brothers. This is perhaps a microcosm of the wear-and-breaking link between the United States and India, the largest democracy in the world. In addition, Indian immigration constitutes the majority of H1-B visa holders in the United States.
Punishing the U.S. tariffs on India certainly played an important role (Trump accuses Modi of promulgating “hard and annoying” trade barriers). Last month, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods; it added another 25% penalty as India purchased discounted crude oil from Russia in 2022. “Vladimir, stop!” Trump posted to Truth Social this year, condemning another former brominated partner.
Then you bring in some geopolitical conspiracies. Trump is currently courting India’s rival Pakistan. In May, the war almost broke out in a terrorist attack in the disputed Kashmir region, with Trump claiming he facilitated a ceasefire (which Modi disputed). India’s rival Pakistan then nominated Trump by nominating the Nobel Peace Prize. kind Trump invites senior Pakistani military officials to join the White House.
More information about Trump’s past, present and future, Today, I explained Co-host Sean Ramewaram and Sadanand Dhumea columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a researcher at the American Corporate Academy.
Below are excerpts of their conversation for detailed description and clarity. There are more in the full podcast, so listen Today, I explained Wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcast,,,,, Pandoraand Spotify.
We’re here to talk to you about breaking up.
Before we get stuck in a tragic breakup, can you tell us why the United States and India have a strong, functional relationship?
Maintaining good relations with India has been a central part of the Indo-Pacific strategy for at least 25 years. The reason is obvious: India is the most populous country in the world. Currently The fifth largest economy in the world.
This is expected to be the third largest economy in the market exchange rate. By 2028, it will have the world’s second largest army. India has a larger and controversial border with China.
The largest democratic country in the world.
Correct. So, for all these reasons, the United States has been working hard, especially in the past 25 years, to make India lean towards the United States rather than China. I think the US strategy is very successful. But now everything is in the air.
Before we talk about how everything finally surfaces, let’s talk about how it’s performed between the two leaders who are breaking up now.
Trump and Modi have a big attitude in the first Trump administration. Many people think they have amazing commonalities. Both are populists. Both are disliked and disliked by traditional elites and traditional mainstream media. Both have a habit of directly attracting the masses through a non-mediation method. So, in some ways, they are similar characters, and Modi really does go out of his way to attract Trump. He and Trump held the rally in Texas, called “Hello, Modi!” The rally.
Is that the place where they shake hands?
They held multiple places. But yes, this is the one Modi caught Trump and took him to the stadium. Modi then invited Trump to Ahmedabad, Modi’s hometown of Gujarat, in this huge cricket stadium. They have another The rally called “Namaster Trump” Welcome Trump to India. I believe there were about 100,000 people at that rally.
Then, before the 2020 election, Modi almost endorsed Trump, which is very unusual for foreign leaders and of course for Indian leaders. Obviously, Trump lost. But Biden’s people are very kind to it, they kind of ignore it and pretend that it didn’t happen. Then, when Trump was elected, Modi was one of the first foreign leaders to visit. He visited the White House in February and said Maga Plus Miga once again made India great, equal to Mega. So, you know, Bromance seems to be going well. It’s suddenly not now.
Tell us how this happened. What caused the breakup, if so?
A few things happened. First, when Modi visited in February, it announced that the United States and India were working to reach a trade deal, hoping to trade more than twice as much as $500 billion. Therefore, the Indians believed that they had some inherent path in obtaining trade agreements. This obviously didn’t happen.
The second thing, I think this is a more important thing that goes wrong, is that there is a brief Military conflict between India and Pakistan in May. At the end of the four days, Trump raised the truth in the social posts that declared a ceasefire and praised it for it, before Modi could say anything or announce anything to his people or to his country. Therefore, this is Modi’s embarrassment. India insists that this is a decision between them and Pakistan. Pakistanis can’t believe their good luck, they have stepped up Nobel Peace Prize Trump.
So, due to all this, Trump seems to be very frustrated with India and very satisfied with Pakistan. The Indians are frustrated by Trump, and now it’s all complicated because not only Trump has adopted 25% conventional reciprocity sanctions, but he has also encountered 25% retaliation for the fact that India has bought a lot of oil from Russia. This does hurt the Indian economy. That’s how Bromance melts.
I have to ask, hear your timeline… India is now in a trade war with the United States because, essentially, they are hindering Trump’s efforts to win the Nobel Peace Prize?
This is at least partly a large part of the explanation. Yes.
I made this point in the Wall Street Journal column, and I said, look, there is still room for big bargaining. But, more seriously, if they can’t reach an agreement, and if they continue to do so, I do think that there is a possibility that Indian public opinion will be against the United States in a way that hasn’t been for a long time.
Is this harmful to India, too?
Oh, for sure. I mean, put yourself in Indian shoes. They have this huge neighbor China. They have a controversial border. The Chinese claim that Indians believe it is most of India and vice versa. This means that China faces more technologically advanced, with an economy of about five times higher than India’s economy. A border conflict occurred in 2020, with 20 Indian soldiers killed. India is tinkering with China, but it recognizes that, fundamentally, it has a very deep problem in China, dating back decades.
But they do have a splashy little summit. Are India and Modi now trying to show that this may be combined with China given what is happening in the United States?
This is Modi’s first visit to China in seven years. This is very important. But my point is that he might attend the summit in any way. India usually attends these summits. But the difference is that I think the actions attributed to Trump are fair, which is a very purposeful way for Modi to tweet along with Putin and Xi Jinping on Twitter.
India is trying to improve relations with China. But what Trump did is, for the Indians, the top priority before launching the tariff war.
