Look East to understand why Trump is ghosting India

A White House tilt in Pakistan's favour hints of the country being deployed for leverage with China

- RAJRISHI SINGHAL

They say that history moves in cycles and is prone to repeating itself. US President Donald Trump's sledgehammer approach to trade negotiations and the imposition of additional tariffs on Indian goods aligns with that maxim. A lot of literature has already emerged about similarities between Trump and former President Richard Nixon, primarily in their shadowy governance styles and despotic personality traits, even though some of the statecraft instruments may have changed with time. In fact, events during the Nixon presidency might hold some clues to Trump's inconstant disposition towards India.

Trump's singling out of India—slamming it with punitive import tariffs for buying Russian oil—from among a host of countries that import Russian goods is perhaps not accidental or whimsical. Indian authorities have expressed their disappointment with US unilateralism, but have displayed diplomatic maturity by not acting impulsively, given that half of the new tariff card comes with a 21-day hiatus, allowing both sides time to reach some compromises. India has also refrained from reacting to Trump's error-prone social media outbursts about the Indian economy because his hectoring on these platforms is headline-seeking behaviour. He threatens, mostly fulminates, but also relents on occasion. It seems part of an act contrived to deliver on his 'tough negotiator' election-campaign promise.