The Donald Trump-led administration, in recent days, has targeted India with additional tariffs, and statements that directly link the country with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Amid Trump’s tirade, a New York Times article on Saturday claimed that the US president attempted to reach out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “several times” over the past few weeks.
Modi, however, refused to get on a telephonic conversation with Trump, the newspaper learnt from sources. This was because the Indian side was cautious that in case of a such a phone call, Trump would take to social media to make claims regardless of whether they have been actually agreed or not.
The NYT article comes days after German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Modi declined to talk to Trump over the phone, despite the American side making four attempts in recent period.
Ties between India and the US seem to have declined after Trump claimed that the conflict between New Delhi and Islamabad came to a halt after he “meditated”. The US president has also listed this mediation as one of the reasons why he should be granted the Nobel Peace Prize, and has also received Pakistan’s backing for the same.
Modi and Trump did speak on June 17, the NYT article claims, adding that there was a disagreement between the two leaders on Trump’s mediation claim. The Indian PM clearly conveyed to Trump that the ceasefire was agreed upon directly by India and Pakistan, and that the US had no role to play in it, the newspaper said.
Trump, during the phone call, reportedly asked Modi to schedule a stopover in the US after his visit to Canada for the G7 summit. The Indian side, however, declined citing Modi’s planned visit to Croatia, the publication added.
Quoting unnamed Indian officials, NYT further said that the stopover in Washington was declined as there was an apprehension that Trump may force Modi for a handshake with Pakistan Army General Asim Munir.
Weeks later, Trump announced so-called reciprocal levies of 25% on India, with effect from Aug. 7, despite the impending trade deal talks. Subsequently, he sharpened his rhetoric against India and slapped an additional 25% levies for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude. This takes the total tariff on India to 50%—the highest among most major trading partners of the US and at par with that levied on Brazil.
Earlier this week, Trump’s advisor Peter Navarro went ahead to label the Ukraine war as “Modi’s war”. Through its purchase of “discounted” Russian crude, India is helping to arm Russia, and hence the US is compelled to finance Ukraine, Navarro told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
With ties plunging to a low, the NYT article said Trump no longer plans to visit India this year for the Quad summit.
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