New Delhi: In a report in The Atlantic titled ‘Trump Isn’t Interested in Competing With China’, Thomas Wright assesses US President Donald Trump’s strategic gymnastics––and the upending and rejigging of relationships.
“China hawks”––those warning against the dangers of its rise––have been cast aside as the Trump administration prepares a defence strategy which “prioritises concerns in the Western Hemisphere over the dangers that Beijing poses”.
However, he writes, “the most striking example of Trump’s failure to take China seriously is his demolition of America’s relationship with India”.
“As Trump degrades the US-India alliance and reprimands Delhi for buying oil from Russia, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are strengthening their relationship. The pair had two phone calls in August, in which Modi affirmed his commitment to their partnership. Earlier this month, Modi attended a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China, where he glad-handed with Xi (Chinese President Xi Jinping) and Putin,” says the report, highlighting the US’ apparent threats.
“Despite the comity their leaders displayed for the cameras, however, India and China still have serious differences. Delhi sees Beijing as its biggest threat, particularly since some border skirmishes that began in 2020. And Modi and Xi have had a more trying relationship than either has had with Putin.”
India’s continued purchase of Russian crude and supposed funding of “Russian war games” is apparently alienating not just the US, but the European Union too.
Over the weekend, EU’s trade negotiator was in New Delhi and “EU’s chief diplomat was putting the finishing touches on a new strategy for closer ties”. Meanwhile, Indian soldiers were participating in Russia’s Zapad war games––“simulating conflict with a fictional EU member state”, writes Henry Foy in Financial Times’ Europe Express newsletter.
“Mostly, Brussels tries to turn a blind eye. This week, the issue was too stark to ignore—especially coming two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held warm meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China,” he writes. “It’s awful timing,” one EU official tells the FT. “And embarrassing.”
“We were more than surprised. The Indian participation in Zapad, it’s concerning,” a senior EU diplomat is quoted as saying. “It’s an issue for us.”
“The impact on the trade talks ‘is the big question’,” the diplomat added. “Some countries will have more questions.”
“India’s participation in the Zapad military exercise, albeit at a much lower level than originally planned, sends the wrong signal. All the more so considering Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine… poses an existential threat to European security,” Anitta Hipper, spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, is quoted as saying.
For India, Trump’s birthday phone call to Modi—one of presumably hundreds––is more than a diplomatic nicety. It could signal the renewal of a relationship; the breakdown of which has impacted entire industries, reports Anupreeta Das in The New York Times.
“Last week, the two leaders had restored some of the bonhomie that had characterised their relationship, raising hopes that they were no longer deadlocked on trade,” says the report.
“Mr Trump posted that he was looking forward to speaking with his ‘very good friend’ Mr Modi. He said trade negotiations would continue and expressed certainty that the two countries would successfully close a deal.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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