India tries to stay on Trump's good side as trade talks progress

Actress and MP told by ruling party chief to delete post critical of US leader's remarks

- Nirmala Ganapathy

NEW DELHI - A Bollywood actress and parliamentarian from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has been compelled to remove a post critical of President Donald Trump as crucial trade talks get under way in the US.

India has, for the most part, tread softly around the US leader as it engages in negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement to mitigate the impact of reciprocal American tariffs on Indian goods.

Ms Kangana Ranaut, an MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that rules India at the head of a coalition government, deleted a post on social media platform X that criticised Mr Trump for warning tech giant Apple against expanding in the country.

At an event in Doha on May 15, Mr Trump said he had a "little problem" with Apple and its chief executive Tim Cook over the company's plans to expand production of iPhones in India. He asked the firm to stop the production there.

Apple has been increasing the production of US-bound iPhones in India — which is seeking to establish itself as a hub for smartphone manufacturing — as part of a plan to diversify its production base away from China.

Responding to Mr Trump's comment, Ms Ranaut questioned this "love loss" for India in her post on May 15 that has since been deleted.

"He is American president, but (the) world's most loved leader is Indian Prime Minister," she had said in the deleted post.

"Is this jealousy or diplomatic insecurity?"

Within hours, Ms Ranaut — an outspoken personality known best for Bollywood films such as Queen — deleted her post.

In a subsequent post, she revealed that BJP national president J.P. Nadda had asked her to do so.

"I regret posting that very personal opinion of mine, as per instructions I immediately deleted it from Instagram as well," she tweeted.