India Should Not Submit to American Bullying

The past week has been a wakeup call for India.

- SHYAM SARAN

Optimistic assumptions of an upward trajectory in India-United States partnership during Donald Trump's second presidency have been rudely shattered by a 25 per cent tariff on his "friend" India, threats of unspecified penalties for buying oil and weapons from Russia and petroleum products from Iran, and for being a member of BRICS Plus. He has also disparaged the Indian economy as a dead weight bound to go down the drain, just as he expects his erstwhile friend Russia to do. This is no longer a trade and tariff war—it is a geopolitical challenge that uses commercial instruments to bend friend and adversary alike to the current whims of the US President. Some countries have surrendered to his extravagant and discriminatory demands by promising large investments in the US, which may or may not materialize, by which time Mr. Trump may be gone. Others, like China, have resisted using their own commercial leverage over the US. India does not have much leverage, so should it just grin and bear it?