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Amid trade tensions between Delhi and Washington, the NYT linked the souring ties to Trump’s repeated claims of solving the four-day conflict in May between India and Pakistan
US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has “no longer plans” to visit India for the Quad Summit later this year, The New York Times reported, detailing how diplomatic ties between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have “unravelled” over the last few months.
In the report titled ‘The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled’, the news outlet, citing people familiar with Trump’s schedule, stated, “After telling PM Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall.”
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India is scheduled to host the Quad summit later this year.
The United States hosted the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in January 2025, a day after Trump assumed the Presidency for a second term.
Amid trade tensions between Delhi and Washington, the news outlet linked the souring ties to Trump’s repeated claims of solving the four-day conflict in May between India and Pakistan, an assertion denied by India.
“Trump’s repeated claims about having ’solved’ the India-Pakistan war infuriated PM Modi. And that was only the beginning,” the NYT article said, adding that PM Modi was “losing patience” with Trump.
Both leaders held a telephonic conversation for 35 minutes on June 17 as Trump returned to Washington from the G7 Summit in Canada, which PM Modi also attended.
They both were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, but Trump returned to Washington early. Before departing Kananaskis and wrapping up his first visit to Canada in a decade, PM Modi had a phone conversation with Trump in Washington.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said in a video message from Kananaskis that PM Modi clearly conveyed to Trump that at “no point” during the days following Operation Sindoor was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US trade deal, or any proposal for a mediation by the US between India and Pakistan.
Misri added that talks to end military action were initiated by Pakistan and handled directly through existing channels between the two armed forces.
According to the NYT, during the June 17 call, Trump again took credit for ending the escalation and mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour that has been bestowed on former US President Barack Obama and one for which Trump has been “openly campaigning”.
“The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that PM Modi should do the same,” and also nominate Trump for the Nobel, the paper said.
“The Indian leader bristled. He told Trump that US involvement had nothing to do with the recent ceasefire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan,” the NYT said.
“Trump largely brushed off PM Modi’s comments, but the disagreement — and PM Modi’s refusal to engage on the Nobel — has played an outsize role in the souring relationship between the two leaders, whose once-close ties go back to Trump’s first term,” the NYT said.
The White House did not acknowledge the call, and Trump made no mention of it online, though he has repeated his claim of halting the conflict.
“And it is also the tale of an American president with his eye on a Nobel Prize, running smack into the immovable third rail of Indian politics: the conflict with Pakistan,” it added.
The report added that, as Trump imposed additional tariffs of 25% on India for its purchases of Russian oil, “the colossal penalties on India in particular appear to be punishment for not falling in line rather than any kind of cohesive effort to reduce the trade deficit or cut off funding for” Putin’s war.
Richard Rossow, chair on India at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying, “If this were a real change in policy in trying to squeeze Russia, Trump could have put his weight behind legislation that would have imposed secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian hydrocarbons. The fact that they have uniquely targeted India says this is about more than just Russia.”
The news outlet further said that Trump, “frustrated by the tariff negotiations”, reached out to PM Modi several times, but the Indian leader “did not respond to those requests.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d…Read More
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
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