New York: Narendra Modi and Donald Trump’s bonhomie and camaraderie were there for the entire world to see. But that seems to be past tense now.
There have been reports of the Indian Prime Minister refusing to take calls from the US President four times in recent weeks.
The turning point in their relation, and consequently Indo-US ties, was a phone call on June 17, New York Times (NYT) reported.
During the 35-minute call – which happened as Trump rushed back to Washington from the G7 Summit in Canada before he could meet Modi in person – the President claimed credit for ending the four-day hostilities between India and Pakistan in May. Trump reportedly told Modi that Pakistan intended to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, implying that India should follow suit.
Modi rejected Trump’s claim, telling him that the ceasefire was negotiated bilaterally without any external mediation, the NYT report titled ‘The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled’ said.
The NYT report went on to say that Trump no longer has plans to visit India later this year for the Quad Summit after how relations between him and Modi have “unraveled” over the last few months.
“After telling Mr Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall,” the report said.
There has been no official comment from either the US or India on the NYT’s claim.
India will host leaders of Australia, Japan and the US for the Quad Summit in New Delhi, around November.
“President Trump’s repeated claims about having ‘solved’ the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning,” NYT said, adding that Modi was “losing patience” with Trump.
The stiff 50% tariff imposed on India – the reciprocal 25% levy plus the additions 25% penal tax for purchasing Russian oil – has further upset and angered New Delhi.
“The colossal penalties on India in particular appear to be punishment for not falling in line rather than any kind of cohesive effort to reduce the trade deficit or cut off funding for Putin’s war,” the NYT report said.
Richard Rossow, chair on India at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying that it was “about more than just Russia.”
“If this was a real change in policy in trying to squeeze Russia, Trump could have put his weight behind legislation that would have imposed secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian hydrocarbons. The fact that they have uniquely targeted India says this is about more than just Russia,” Rossow said.
Trump reached out to Modi several times, but the Indian PM “did not respond to those requests,” the report stated.
