Donald Trump is not taking India’s geopolitical flirting well.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin were spotted on Sunday holding hands as they walked into a meeting at a Chinese summit of anti-Western coalition leaders—a show seemingly designed to get under Trump’s skin.
It was a clear mission accomplished when the president fumed over America’s “one sided disaster” of a relationship with India in a post on Truth Social.
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“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” he began. “In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest ‘client,’ but we sell them very little - Until now a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades.”
Trump continued: “The reason is that India has charged us, until now, such high Tariffs, the most of any country, that our businesses are unable to sell into India. It has been a totally one sided disaster! Also, India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago. Just some simple facts for people to ponder!!!”
Putin, Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping flaunted their bromance at the Shanghai Co-Operation Organization (SCO) summit, hosted by Xi as a means to showcase his vision of a new world order free from the dominance of the United States.
The trio shook hands and formed a close circle before being joined by translators at the Tianjin event. All three smiled warmly at one another and, at one point, Modi held both leaders’ hands while letting out an exaggerated laugh. It was a show of unity designed to send a message to their Western counterparts.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
Modi’s warmth to the two leaders signals a dramatic shift in U.S.-India relations, as New Delhi’s bureaucracy typically seeks to avoid warmth with Russia and China in an attempt to maintain close ties with Washington.
It was less than a year ago that President Joe Biden hailed Modi as a strategic partner and praised U.S.-India ties as “stronger than ever.”
But Trump’s aggressive tariff policies on India, which rose to 50 percent when he punished Modi for purchasing sanctioned Russian oil, may have pushed the world’s largest democracy closer to China’s orbit.
Putin, Xi, and Modi will continue to meet with the 20 world leaders in attendance at the summit over the coming week as they attempt to shore up the support for their new power bloc. The most significant event is scheduled for Tuesday, when the trio is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
