India has found frequent mention in American news over the past few weeks as US President Donald Trump escalated his trade war. Multiple publications also covered the ongoing SCO Summit — often lambasting the POTUS for upending the world order. Most channels, newspapers and websites are running articles about the widening rift between Modi and Trump while others focused on the growing influence of China.
Trump’s pointless rupture’
“President Donald Trump has undone 25 years of diplomacy by embracing Pakistan after its conflict with India in May, and is now singling out India for even higher tariffs than China. He cannot have thought through how the world’s most populous country and fifth-largest economy would react…His pointless rupture will change India—and the world,” the Economist wrote earlier this week.
The consensus appeared to be echoed by most publications on Sunday as the SCO Summit began with Modi-Xi bilateral talks. The Indian leader is also slated to hold talks with Vladimir Putin during the two-day trip to Tianjin. And according to most American media outlets, the ‘nascent rapprochement’ between these countries can be linked back to diplomatic gaffes by the US. Even the conservative-leaning Fox News has voiced alarm about the recent developments — noting that China and Russia were ‘natural partners’ who “shared the same enemy” in the USA.
What did the US media say?
The front page of the New York Times also highlighted “the striking split between Trump and Modi” on Sunday — adding that India was fast “losing patience” with the POTUS. It kept overage of the SCO Summit rather China-centric and somewhat separate from its continued focus on India-US ties. The NYT website noted on Sunday afternoon that Xi Jinping was using the event and an upcoming parade to ‘flaunt China’s global pull’.
“With the leaders of Russia and India visiting, Xi Jinping will show how he can use statecraft, military might and history to push for global influence,” added the blurb on the NYT homepage.
It also laid heavy emphasis on Trump’s continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize and a recently unearthed phone call to PM Modi that had left the US President outraged. The publication also published a guest essay on Sunday morning highlighting the dismal state of US-India ties.
“The US wooed India for 30 years. Trump blew that up in a few months,” the headline began.
India-US ties also dominated coverage for The Economist on Sunday — with their main story on the website focusing on the massive “ramifications” as India ‘re-thought’ its relationship with America. The article was written three days ago and highlights the SCO Summit as a “striking example of the improving ties between India and China”.
Other articles written over the past few days also made repeated mention of the “giant test for India” following the ‘humiliation’ meted out by Trump. The article noted that the historically non-aligned country now felt “vindicated by the events of the past few months”. In this context, the visit to China signals that India has many options beyond dependence on America.
Popular American news website CNN focused extensively on the ongoing Summit with its lead story noting the way in which China was “rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi”. It also touched upon the new ‘world order’ seemingly put forward by Xi Jinping and criticised Trump for “Trump upending global relationships”.
Meanwhile, Fox News has struck a cautionary note about the Summit — noting that it Chinese President Xi Jinping was hosting Russia, North Korea and India from Sunday. The right-leaning TV channel and website has provided only limited coverage of the SCO Summit over the past few days.