Trade Tariff Tiff: Trump Called Four Times, PM Modi Did Not Respond

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Have relations between the world's two largest democracies, India and the US, reached their lowest point in recent decades? These speculations have intensified after a report in a reputed German newspaper claimed that India is now responding strongly to the trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and the dialogue between the two countries has almost broken down.

Sensational claim of German newspaper

German newspaper 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung' has made this sensational claim in a detailed report. According to the report, President Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times to discuss the trade dispute, but he did not receive the call. The newspaper believes that this is a sign of India's changed foreign policy, under which the Modi government is no longer ready to bow down to American pressure.

Hendrik Ankenbrand, Winand von Petersdorf and Gustav Thiele write in the report that India is now trying to build a new alliance with countries like China, Russia and Brazil and perhaps that is why it does not want to give much importance to the Trump administration.

'India will not become America's pawn for China'

The newspaper has described the improving relations with China as a symbol of a major change in India's foreign policy. The report says, "It is India's changed policy that it has started improving relations even with China, with which there was a bloody military clash in Ladakh in 2020."

According to the report, the US wants India to stand firmly with China to isolate it, but India does not want to become a 'pawn' of the US. The newspaper writes, "India believes that friendship with the US cannot be trusted too much." Under this policy, India not only refused to open the agricultural market, ignoring the US demands, but also bought cheap oil from Russia and Iran despite Western sanctions.

When PM Modi did not smile in the White House

The report also mentions PM Modi's visit to the White House in February this year. According to the newspaper, "Trump called Modi a 'great leader', but when it came time to pose for photographs, Modi did not smile. Trump invoked their personal relationship, but Modi described it as just a 'strategically important visit'. This shows how cautious the Indian leadership is about American intentions."