US President Donald Trump on Friday remarked that India and Russia seem to have been “lost” to China, a statement made in the aftermath of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gathering held in Tianjin earlier this week. His fresh social media post came shortly after the striking display of camaraderie among Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit drew global attention, especially across Western nations.
Posting a photograph of the Modi Xi Putin meeting, Trump wrote: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
The comment followed the SCO meeting, which observers interpret as a signal of resistance against Trump’s steep tariff measures, and comes at a moment when ties between New Delhi and Washington are considered to be at their lowest point in nearly twenty years.
Relations between India and the United States have soured after Trump increased tariffs on Indian products to fifty percent, one of the sharpest hikes imposed on any trading partner. Earlier in the week, Trump had described America’s economic relationship with India as a “one sided disaster” while pointing to the trade imbalance between the two countries. His remarks coincided with Modi’s participation at the SCO summit in China along with other global leaders.
“What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do a tremendous amount of business with us,” Trump stated in another online post. “In other words, they sell us massive amounts of goods, their biggest ‘client’, but we sell them very little…a totally one sided relationship, and it has been for many decades,” he added.
Washington has attributed the rise in tariff levels to India’s continued oil imports from Russia, while trade negotiators from both sides have been attempting to finalize a possible deal in recent weeks.
As the downturn in bilateral relations deepens, several former United States officials have blamed Trump for pushing India closer toward China.
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton noted on Thursday that the “once strong personal rapport” between Modi and Trump has diminished, accusing the president of setting back bilateral ties by decades.
Meanwhile, former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan observed that Trump’s “massive trade offensive” left India with little option but “to sit with China.” According to him, many allies now perceive Washington as a “big disruptor” while Beijing has gained ground in international popularity.
“China has moved ahead of the United States in popularity in a whole lot of countries. And that was not the case one year ago, where countries now are basically saying the US brand is in the toilet and China is looking like a responsible player,” Sullivan said.
While China appears to be positioning itself as a responsible global actor, Sullivan added that “the US brand is in the toilet.”
