India-US Ties: In the last week, the US administration’s frustration came to the forefront as several senior officials from Donald Trump’s government openly made anti-India remarks, not only over Russian oil purchase but also against the Indian economy. US President Donald Trump has himself termed India a ‘dead economy,’ and this was followed by a verbal barrage by his ministers and officials. Yesterday, White House Advisor Peter Navarro termed the Ukraine conflict as ‘Modi’s war’ and asked India to act like a strategic partner. Now, former Indian diplomats have lashed out at the US ministers and officials over their coercive statements against India.
Reacting to the US official’s statement, former diplomat Vikas Swarup said that the current relationship between India and the US is not in good shape. “We all thought that, given the personal relationship that PM Modi has developed with President Trump and the fact that President Trump really respects PM Modi, we thought that an India-US Trade Deal would come quite early…But unfortunately, that has not happened,” said Swarup.
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Anti-India Remarks Hurting US Ties
Former diplomat Swarup further added that the US officials are trying to put all kinds of pressure on India. “India is a country that has always followed the principle of strategic autonomy. We will not be dictated by anyone. I think the time is still there for the two sides to find a mutually acceptable solution…These current comments coming from the Trump administration are not helping the cause,” said Swarup.
Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, echoed Swarup. “China is a bigger buyer, and Europe buys gas. So, I think this is a way of sort of wanting to coerce India’s policies in a larger fashion and not just about Russia or oil or even trade for that matter. So, I think this is a moment when India has to maintain its strategic autonomy, its own decision-making space and for that, we may have to suffer some short term losses. We might find things difficult in exports but I think we will come out of it,” said Sarna.
“I think the relationship is facing a lot of challenges at the moment. So, we have to ride it out. We have to roll with it at the moment. We have to make sure that India’s basic interests are taken care of, whether it is in energy, agriculture and so on. I think we have to not react with a knee-jerk reaction to every comment that is coming out of Washington,” said Sarna.
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India-China Relations
Former diplomat Vikas Swarup said that the relationship with China had started improving since October 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jinping in Kazan and the decisions that they took, the eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation about what was happening at the border set the ball rolling. “China also wants to improve relations with India…At the end of the day, China is also a neighbour of ours. We cannot have a situation where even direct flights are suspended between the two countries, visas are not being given, and journalists are no longer reporting from each other’s countries. So, hopefully, these things will set into process the process of normalisation which has been ongoing. But at the end of the day, we have to ensure that China continues to follow the principles that we have articulated, that relations between India and China can only be based on mutual respect, on mutual sensitivity and mutual interest,” said Swarup.