Political scientist Ian Bremmer has showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for standing up to Donald Trump — a sharp contrast to the silence of other global leaders. Ties between India and the US have come under severe strain after the POTUS imposed a 50% tariff against most imports from the country over continued purchase of Russian oil. Multiple clarifications from India and Pakistan have also failed to stop Trump from claiming he singlehandedly “averted nuclear war” between the two neighbours.
”Strategic move by Modi’
“He doesn’t care. His view is: ‘I’m powerful, I’m the president; you’ve got to listen to me.‘ But we’ve also seen that there are countries that can stand up to Trump and say ‘no’.’ The Chinese have stood up to Trump. And effectively the Russians have stood up to Trump… And I think Modi is in that space,” the Eurasia Group President told ANI.
Bremmer noted that PM Modi could have very easily acquiesced to the relentless claims made by Trump about Operation Sindoor — calling his dissent a strategic move. He signalled that his move to publicly counter Trump helped him domestically and gave him a level of political independence rare among US allies.
“Modi could have easily not embarrassed Trump about the India-Pakistan issue. And instead, Modi decided to publicly say: ‘No, you had nothing to do with this’ and really did embarrass Trump on the global stage. And most other leaders in the world would have sucked it up and not said anything,” Bremmer opined.
Thaw in India-US ties?
The India-US relationship had come under severe strain last month as Trump imposed a 50% tariff against India over continued purchase of Russian oil. Top aides had also held New Delhi responsible for the ongoing ‘bloodshed’ in Ukraine — claiming that India was indirectly financing the Russian war and being a “laundromat for the Kremlin”. President Trump heralded a thaw last week — referring to Modi as a close friend and reiterating the “special relationship” between the US and India. Both leaders had also pledged to resume talks and voiced confidence in unlocking the “limitless potential” of a trade relationship.
Days later, Trump called Modi to extend birthday greetings and insist that the Indian leader was “doing a tremendous job”. The US President also thanked the PM for his “support” in ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump highlighted his ‘very close’ relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a briefing in the UK on Thursday.