Trump’s Claims on India-Pakistan Ceasefire Risk Upsetting Ties
US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi (Image credit (PMO)
Trump’s Transactional Foreign Policy Misses South Asia Complexities
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, May 14, 2025 – US President Donald Trump most likely squandered away goodwill in India with his bombastic claims of brokering peace between feuding South Asian nations. Geopolitical commentators warned that Trump lacks an understanding to deal with complexities of South Asia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation and his speech at the Indian Air Force airbase at Adampur carried veiled messages for Trump that he needed to refresh his understanding of India, as well as the South Asia.
“Trump’s recent comments—publicly announcing the India-Pakistan ceasefire, both-siding the crisis, ignoring the terror attack that triggered it, invoking Kashmir, and seemingly making light of it all—risk sparking a diplomatic crisis w/India that neither side could’ve expected,” wrote Michael Kugelman, a keen South Asia observer, in a post on X.
India and the US are set for further negotiations for a bilateral trade pact that Trump trumpets most often in his public addresses. Trump is hard selling his audiences that soon American farmers would be selling their produces in India, as well as Harley Davidson will whizz on roads of New Delhi.
Trump is riling up Indian diplomatic community, while arming Modi’s baiters with fresh ammo with his bombastic claims that he “used trade threats to secure a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The Congress is going guns blazing against Modi. Besides, the Modi followers are also expressing dismay at Trump giving a leg up to the Pakistani narrative against India.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal has rebutted Trump’s assertion. He said that “trade was not discussed during talks between US and Indian officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.”
But Trump is known to be immune to rebuttals. He per observers knows no nuances of sober statements in matters of foreign policy.
Sid, a commoner with no foreign policy background, in a post on X, said: “Trump’s trade threat narrative reflects a shallow understanding of South Asian geopolitics. India, as a sovereign nation, will not make security decisions under economic pressure.”
His views gained predominance soon after Trump announced India-Pakistan ceasefire “mediated by the US”. India’s former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal accused Trump of “muddying India-US relations”.
Modi followers are calling Trump’s claims as “bluster,” suggesting they exaggerate US leverage over India.
Surya Kanegaonkar, a foreign policy commentator, suggested that Trump’s claim of using trade leverage could have “consequences” in defence acquisitions, potentially limiting India’s access to US technology or support. Notably, US Vice President JD Vance in India mostly argued for New Delhi to buy more American arms.
Modi’s stress on ‘Make in India’ for defence self-reliance and spotlight on S-400 and Brahmos also could alarm the US arms manufacturers that New Delhi may think of other options. New Delhi may also take a hard look at Trump now doing business with Jihadist regime in Syria, which had been blasted only a few weeks ago by Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of Intelligence.
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
