- People closely following the fortunes of the Indo-American bilateral relationship in the last two decades must have realized that the successive heads of the government at both ends not only invested heavily in the fostering of the same but also lost no occasion to cement further the alliance for the benefit of the two countries. Mind you, both countries are not only the two largest democracies in the world but also represent a shared vision vis-à-vis forging a strong alliance in every vertical that could shape the future generations. Shared values, interests like space, tourism, culture, cutting-edge technologies, military, commerce, and other economic spheres offer an innumerable but common platform for both countries to press ahead.
PC: BBC
- However, the advent of Donald Trump for a second term in the USA appears to have damaged the very fabric of mutual respect, admiration, and acceptability ever since the tariff war was unleashed by the increasingly petulant, impetuous, and irrational-sounding American leader. What must have riled the Indian leadership is the way some of the Trump administration officials have gone about issuing statements in bad taste against India. As you are aware, India was thrust with a 25% tariff on our products reaching the shores of America. On top of it, an additional 25% tariff was imposed on India for buying Russian oil. The height of hypocrisy can be gauged by the fact that China is the leading country to buy Russian oil. And there are other countries too.
PC: NDTV Profit
- Why then penalize India when other countries, including America and the EU, buy Russian oil through backdoor channels? In the last few years, the bonhomie and personal equation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump were the talk of the whole world. However, a series of occurrences over the last few months appears to have simply altered the friendly equation into a somewhat piquant situation for the leaders and the country alike. Without getting into the reasons for the sudden outburst of Trump against India, suffice it to say that some of the statements originating from his officials are downright uncalled for. Modi’s war, Brahmins are profiteering, and the general vitriolic attack on Indian leadership is simply misguided.
PC: Madhyamam
- To their credit, Indian leadership has not started a war of words other than issuing mild retorts like ill-advised assumptions, uncalled-for targeting, and also gently guiding the American leadership to comprehend the hypocritical tendency prevalent in the tariff war. Trump would have realized by now that any bullying tactics against Modi will not prevail. Also, India will not allow our farmers’ interests to be compromised one bit. Noticeably, Trump has made a recent statement harping on the special relationship between the two countries and the leaders as well. Modi has responded suitably too. Will the toning down of the rhetoric lead to Trump rolling back the additional tariff in the coming days? The time will reveal what’s in store on the matter.
