When Donald Trump won his second term as the President of the United States, there were havans performed in various parts of India, particularly by the followers of the Sangh Parivar, who perhaps believed that his return as the head of the US government, would be in the overall interests of the 140 crore Indians. A belief which was both misplaced and premature.
Their over enthusiasm was rooted in their conviction that Trump and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a unique chemistry which would be to the benefit of both the nations. While doing so, they forgot that for Trump or any other person in that position, the interests of his or her own country always come first, and in this case, the US President is using his position to bully the world, including India to ensure that they do not deviate from his diktat.
In his eagerness to show Russia its place and to pressurize New Delhi into accepting his trade deals and offers, he has declared that an additional 25% tariff was going to be imposed on India, much more than most countries. It is a totally insane decision in the face of it, and an attempt to browbeat the world’s largest democracy.
The least, it is pushing Indians away from the US, which in the past, has preferred to side with Pakistan and nations opposed to ours. It is also a lesson for those who organized the mammoth “Howdy Modi” Houston event in September, 2019, where the Indian PM was felicitated in the presence of Trump, and its latent objective was to influence people of Indian origin to support the Republicans in that election. It was a gamble that failed since Trump ended up on the losing side, and Joe Biden, the victor, never ever took kindly to New Delhi’s “unnecessary interference” in the internal affairs of another country.
In “Godfather” there are these famous lines that “the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies”. In this instance, India has been betrayed by Trump, someone whom many Indians considered to be a friend and well-wisher. Without realizing that his actions would be counter-productive, Trump has made Indians hostile to his initiatives, which can lead to disastrous consequences, since they while asserting the US supremacy, have pushed many of its allies into taking their own decisions.
Trump’s announcement comes at a time when Indo-US relations were improving and there existed a certain bonhomie flowing out from the equation between Trump and Modi. The question is that how can Trump question the sovereignty of another country and ask its leaders to shun another country, Russia in this case?
New Delhi and Moscow have a relationship which is independent of the relationship with any other country. What India and Russia do in terms of trade and other matters is something which is completely bilateral and cannot be disputed by anyone else. Trump has a schizophrenic personality where he continues to surprise the world by playing the big bully. The international order is changing and it cannot be controlled by any one individual.
The American people have always inspired every other nation and this is what is being undone by their President, who does not seem to realise what his actions are leading to. India cannot give up its relationship with other countries, just on the whims and fancies of someone who is determined to impose his own will. In this context, it needs to be recalled that in the early 1970s, when US President Richard Nixon had tried to browbeat Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi into submission during the crisis that emanated in what is now Bangladesh due to the policies of West Pakistan at that juncture, she had shown both courage and class in putting him in his place.
When the US tried to intimidate New Delhi by sending the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal, she had signed the Indo-Soviet treaty with Leonid Brezhnev, to keep the country safe. Even the worst critics of Indira Gandhi would always admit that her action then was in the interest of the country even if it distanced the US establishment from New Delhi. After her, Narendra Modi is the strongest PM we have had, and he should also demonstrate that he cannot be taken for granted and shall under no circumstances succumb to the unfair pressure being applied by Trump.
PM Modi is expected to visit China at the end of the month, a trip which could be extremely significant in the changing international scenario. China had stabbed India in the back and its aggression led to the Sino-India conflict of 1962, something for which the then PM, Jawaharlal Nehru is still blamed by his adversaries. The Hindi-Chini bhai bhai slogan backfired, perhaps in the same way as the Houston event and the havans that took place in our country in the aftermath of the Trump victory last year. PM Modi and his government were dutybound to protect Indian interests and ensure that the dominant view of Trump did not succeed.
The PM would enhance his image manifold if he stands up and declines to be pushed by the United States. India should prepare for retaliatory measures if Trump persists with his threats and start boycotting US goods while laying emphasis on “Swadeshi” and Make in India initiatives. It is an opportunity before PM Modi to make a push for a self-reliant India, and the entire country would stand with him. Between us
