Opinion In conflict over trade with US, India has proved it won’t give into bullying
New Delhi faced calumny with restraint, countering the onslaught with irrefutable facts and exposing West’s duplicity on energy imports. This tactic seems to be paying
President Donald Trump addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) Recent developments in Indo-US relations highlight the limitations of neocolonialism in adapting to a rapidly changing global order. They also reflect the steady decline of Western and American influence in global geopolitics. While these developments indicate India’s growing ability to navigate a multipolar world on its own terms, they also reveal its vulnerabilities.
For over five months, President Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted India. He and his associates have often used outright lies, abusive language, and threats — little realising that these are worn-out tactics. On April 2, the US President announced the so-called “tariff bomb,” declaring it “Liberation Day.” This decision triggered a series of events that revealed him to be a transactional Czar lacking consistency, diplomatic finesse, and regard for truth.
On July 31, Trump stated, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together.” This was not only in poor taste but also factually incorrect. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition, seemed to agree with Trump. He said, “Everybody knows this except PM Modi and the finance minister. It is a dead economy. ” Obviously, visceral hate has overshadowed truth, and exposed chinks in India’s armour.
Trump had earlier declared that he had brokered a ceasefire between warring India and Pakistan in the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 innocent civilians, mostly Hindus, were shot dead. Trump’s claim was a lie – it seems to snare a Nobel for peace. While the Indian Government promptly denied the involvement of a third party and said it was a bilateral issue, Rahul Gandhi, however, chose to believe the US President and came out with a nasty crack, “Narender-Surrender”.
The lie was exposed when Pakistan’s Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar spoke to Al Jazeera, on September 15. He said, “I was told that there would be a dialogue between Pakistan and India at an independent place… When we met on the 25th of July during a bilateral meeting with Secretary Rubio in Washington, I asked him ‘What happened to those dialogues?’, he said, “India says that it is a bilateral issue.”
During the last five months, New Delhi faced calumny with restraint, countering the onslaught with irrefutable facts and exposing West’s duplicity on energy imports. This tactic seems to be paying. Trump broadsides are on the wane. On September 9, the US President announced that his administration had resumed trade negotiations with India. Trump called Modi to wish him on his birthday and to discuss recent developments in bilateral cooperation, including the negotiations for a trade agreement. The PM thanked Trump for the call, addressing him as “my friend” in a post on the social media site X. US trade representative Brendan Lynch paid a visit to New Delhi on September 16. After a “positive meeting” between the trade negotiators, the two sides have decided to intensify efforts for a bilateral trade agreement.
Differences between sovereign nations on various issues are sometimes inevitable. The chasm between India and America was aggravated by a lack of sensitivity on the part of Trump and his aides — born out of arrogance, ignorance and subtle contempt for other’s concerns. The US wants India to import its dairy products. The American cows are fed pig blood, chicken poop, and cat meat — producing “non-vegetarian” milk. India’s dairy sector sustains millions of marginal farmers. Apart from economic ramifications, the proposed deal has non-negotiable cultural dimensions as well. Can someone be similarly insensitive to European or Islamic nations for the sake of bilateral trade?
Peter Navarro, the US president’s trade advisor, referenced strategies from the colonial period to support his policy proposals. Navarro alleged, in the context of India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil: “I would just say that Indian people, please, understand what’s going on here. The Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop.” It wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark, but part of a chain of narratives that have long been used—at home and abroad—to divide Indian society. Alluding it to the “Boston Brahmins” moniker, cannot hide the mischief implied in the message.
The current upheaval in the Indo–US relations will hopefully be behind us soon. But in all likelihood, the relations between the two countries will continue to hit rough patches, at least till Trump is in office. The US continues to be the most powerful country in the world, but it’s beset with a host of its own complex problems and is finding it difficult to negotiate its way through a multi-polar world.
India is on the rise and is projected to be the third-largest economy in the world soon. In the April-June quarter, India has grown at 7.8 per cent — way above the 6.5 per cent forecast. Annual growth has a good chance of exceeding the target of 6.5 per cent.
Undoubtedly, the hegemony of Europe and America can’t last long. The recent slugfest proves that India is no pushover and wouldn’t give in to bullying by anyone, including the US
The writer is a former Chairman of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication
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