Trump’s Words And Actions Eroding India-US Ties: Carnegie

WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump’s recent actions and statements are jeopardizing the India-US relationship that has been built over 25 years. According to a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, his decisions could unravel more than two decades of bipartisan effort to transform bilateral ties, including during his own first term.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump threatened to substantially raise tariffs on India, stating, “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits.” He added, “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”

The Carnegie report, authored by Evan Feigenbaum, suggests that India will view Trump’s decision as “blunt coercion, gross interference in Indian foreign policy, impractical given India’s oil import needs, and a cynical effort to ‘blame India’ for the West’s (and Trump’s own) collective failure to get Moscow to stop its war on Ukraine.”

Trump has also criticized and threatened US firms that manufacture in India, encouraging them to invest in the US or face financial penalties. The report notes that these statements have sharpened the contradiction between Trump’s ‘America First’ and Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ visions.

The US President’s meeting with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir at the White House, coming within weeks of a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, and the decision to jointly explore Pakistan’s oil reserves, have also caused concern in New Delhi. The report details that Trump’s praise for Islamabad and dealmaking with Pakistan’s army and government amplified these concerns, especially since they followed a terrorist attack on April 22 that killed twenty-six Indian civilians in Pahalgam.

Furthermore, the report states that the Trump administration has continued to promote a new American techno nationalism, viewing technology sharing with foreigners with skepticism. This approach, which seeks to keep American technology close to home while reducing exports and co-innovation with foreign partners, is seen as a bad sign for the next 20 years of US-India relations.

For the first time in two decades, Trump’s actions, statements, and coercive tone have made ties with the US a “combustible domestic political issue” in India, according to the report. The opposition, media, and public have urged the government to avoid showing weakness in the face of Trump’s threats.

The report also points out that issues directly affecting India, such as H1B visas for tech workers, offshoring, immigration, and technology sharing, are among the most partisan and explosive in the US. Overcoming domestic politics and partisanship has been a major achievement in the bilateral relationship since the early 2000s, and this new friction signals a potential reversal of that progress. (IANS)