Trump, irritated with India after tariff dispute, cancels Delhi visit, was to attend Quad Summit

New Delhi. Bitterness has been clearly visible in the relations between the US and India for some time now. Meanwhile, after imposing 50 percent tariff on India, US President Donald Trump has also canceled his Indian tour. A recent report in the New York Times claims that the US President no longer has any program to come to India for the Quad summit. This report published in the American newspaper on Saturday cites sources related to Trump’s program.

According to the report, Trump had earlier informed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would visit India at the end of the year, but now he has canceled this plan. At present, there has been no official response from both the US and Indian governments on the claim made in this report. Actually, India is going to host the Quad summit later this year. Earlier, the Trump administration held a meeting of Quad foreign ministers in January, just when Trump began his second presidential term.

The report states that relations between Trump and Modi have started deteriorating amid trade tensions. In particular, Trump’s repeated claims have further complicated the situation. Trump has been constantly claiming that he helped resolve the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan in May. However, India has consistently rejected these claims. According to the New York Times, President Trump’s claims of resolving the India-Pakistan war angered Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the beginning of tension. Modi’s patience with Trump was gradually decreasing.

On June 17, the two leaders had a 35-minute phone call
The two leaders had a 35-minute phone call on June 17. This call took place when Trump was returning to Washington from the G-7 summit in Canada. PM Modi was also present at this summit. The plan was that the two leaders would meet face-to-face during the summit, but Trump left early. Before leaving, the Indian Prime Minister spoke to Trump over the phone.

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said in a video message from Kananaskis, Canada that Prime Minister Modi clearly told Trump that there was no discussion on the US-India trade agreement, nor was there any proposal for US mediation in the India-Pakistan conflict. Misri had said that the ceasefire was negotiated through existing military channels between the armed forces of India and Pakistan, which was initiated by Pakistan.

Misri had told that PM Modi firmly told President Trump that India does not accept and will never accept any mediation in the conflict between itself and Pakistan.

Nobel Prize ambition and conflict
According to the report, during the June 17 call, Trump once again took credit for ending the India-Pakistan war and claimed that Pakistan was planning to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Former President Barack Obama has already received the award and now Trump is openly campaigning for it.

“According to sources, Trump was hinting that Modi should also support him,” the report said. However, Modi completely rejected this claim and said that the US had no role in the ceasefire and it was resolved directly between India and Pakistan. Trump ignored Modi’s objection, but the Indian Prime Minister’s refusal to support Trump’s Nobel campaign became a major reason for breaking the relationship between the two leaders.

White House never confirmed the phone call
The report also said that the White House never publicly acknowledged the call and neither did Trump share it on social media. Since May 10, Trump has publicly claimed more than 40 times that he stopped the Indo-Pak war.
“This is also the story of a US president who wants a Nobel Prize. But his desire has collided with the most sensitive and uncompromising reality of Indian politics – the conflict between India and Pakistan,” the report noted.

25% tariff on India a punitive move?
According to the report, the US president’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on India for buying oil from Russia appears to be more of a punitive move than an explicit policy. “The hefty penalties imposed on India are more a response to the US’ refusal to comply than a coherent effort to reduce the trade deficit or stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war funding,” the paper wrote.

Richard Rossow, India chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, “This issue is about more than just Russia. If this was a shift in policy to squeeze Russia, Trump could support legislation imposing secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian hydrocarbons. Targeting only India shows that this is about much more than Russia.”

Richard Rossow, head of India affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that this issue is not just related to Russia. He said, “If this was really a policy to put pressure on Russia, Trump could have supported laws that talked about imposing secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian hydrocarbons. But targeting India separately shows that the matter is not just about Russia.” The newspaper further claimed that when the tariff talks stalled, Trump tried to contact Indian Prime Minister Modi several times. But Prime Minister Modi did not answer his calls.