Decoding Donald Trump in the Time of India-Pakistan Conflict

Analysts believe that the US-India relationship will continue to grow regardless of what President Trump does next, however, PM Modi will have to navigate the rest of the Trump years deftly.

- AVATANS KUMAR

Then US President Donald Trump announced in his social media (Truth Social) post that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE (sic)," many around the world heaved a sigh of relief. In his subsequent social media posts and public comments over the next few days, Mr. Trump gave the impression that the United States of America brokered the ceasefire between India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with his cabinet's direct involvement. He even bragged about how he dangled the carrot of trade deals to stop the fresh round of fighting, a possible nuclear escalation, in the Indian subcontinent.

The announcement made a huge splash in the world media. The mere thought of averting a nuclear war was a relief. However, a profound sense of disbelief and betrayal shrouded India. Your Chicago Diary columnist talked to many people in India—from private citizens to public figures, bureaucrats, and public intellectuals—who were appalled at Mr. Trump's seemingly moral equivalence between India and the Islamic Republic.

Mr. Trump's rhetoric implied parity between India and Pakistan, ignoring Pakistan's documented support for terrorism, which the US has previously condemned. Indians argue this oversimplification distorts the conflict's root causes and risks legitimizing Pakistan's narrative, which India opposes. India has been the victim of Islamic terror for decades, and many may argue that this conflict has a thousand-year history, as repeatedly claimed by Mr. Trump. Pakistan, most recently, was also the perpetrator of the ghastly April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India, that saw over two dozen Hindu tourists murdered in cold blood.