‘India’s Confidence In The US Is Shattered’

12 comments

1. Ashley Tellis is an India-born American foreign policy analyst who’s spent decades advocating for closer geostrategic ties between the two countries. He had served as an advisor for the Obama administration during the historic India-US trade deal negotiations more than a decade ago.

   Ever since this tariff war with India began I’ve been looking around for expert opinions on what happened and Tellis appears to be the only one who has been right on the money from the beginning about Trump’s attitude regarding India and more broadly, foreign policy.

   In February, Tellis had given another interview where he correctly surmised that Trump did not care about geopolitics in the conventional sense, which meant that the old assumption about being a long-term counterweight to China that had given India value in the eyes of successive American Presidents no longer applied. He also explained that Trump’s zero-sum view of trade could lead to an extremely bleak outcome for countries like India, and praised Modi for being one of the first world leaders to meet Trump, strike up a ‘bromance’ and begin negotiations.

   However he also warned that Modi’s hugs and praise and willingness to negotiate only bought India a few months’ respite, and that he would have to keep up the pandering *and* make significant economic concessions in order to spare India from Trump’s wrath. Six months later, everything he warned about has come to pass.

   How does India get out of this hole now? According to Tellis,

   >I don’t know if I can enumerate five, let alone seven, things, but as matters stand there is one specific problem that needs to be resolved urgently if Trump is to change his attitude to India: New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.

   >This is a problem, first and foremost, because Trump has now made it so. So, if there is any single suggestion I’d have for PM Modi it would be to find a way to address Trump’s complaints on this score.

   >…

   >Beyond oil, there are three other things that PM Modi can do to help repair the relationship.

   >First, get into the habit of praising President Trump loudly for his achievements, real and imagined.

   >Second, get on the phone and speak to Trump to tell him what a great friend he has been to India and how the bilateral relationship will scale new summits during his presidency to the great benefit of the United States.

   >Third, set up a bilateral meeting with Trump at the earliest, possibly at the UNGA, and assure him that the billion-plus people of India await his visit for the QUAD summit where their affection for him will be on fullest display!

   >**None of this will be easy because, as a matter of fact, India has not done anything particularly egregious to bring the current misfortunes upon itself.**

   >**Yet the solutions necessary cannot be tailored to the problems in this instance but to the individual causing them.**

   Tellis’ opinions are quite informative, so for people interested in foreign policy insider views I’d recommend reading this entire interview, as well as Tellis’ earlier February interview [here](https://www.rediff.com/news/interview/modi-bought-a-reprieve-not-a-resolution/20250218.htm).

2. It’s not just India, it’s every ally from the EU to Asia, the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally.

3. India? Trump crashed the whole relationship with canada, the closest ally of usa with lot of cultural similarities.

   People have very high hopes from Trump to have an ounce of critical thinking while his cognitive skills are of 12yo kid.

4. Because Indian companies are defying sanctions by buying cheap oil from Russia to help them fund their war against Ukraine, and that is objected to? To allow Russia to prolong that war and murder tens of thousands more Ukrainians? Because that’s what is happening.

   Or did we all forget about that?

5. Hey if India thinks it is best suited to partner with China over the US, that is their choice. India exports more goods to the US than any other country and accounts for between 15-20% of all their exports. You can’t blame Trump for trying to get more favorable trade terms. I can’t blame India for buying cheap Russian oil and working with their regional rival China if that is what they think suits them best.

   In reality, my thoughts are Modi will eventually come back to the table as India wants to grow it’s exports and India and America have a lot in common including a large and growing diaspora. There is a lot of business to be done that can be a win win for each country and this seems a lot like posturing and leaders trying to show how strong they are to their respective peoples.

6. India was never aligned in the first place. Their playbook is being unaligned. In this moment it suits them to appear to get closer with China. In another moment they will go the other way. That is how they choose to leverage their political coil. They have only ever sided with their own interests on a case by base basis.

   Quite frankly to attribute this to one man, even if it is THAT man. Is giving him too much credit. This is hardly more significant than previous administrations choosing to align with Pakistan.

7. What nonsense this premise is. As if India ever had ‘confidence’ in the US, or vice versa.

   The writer seems to love personification and drama.

8. It takes a special type of malignant fool to turn two enemies into friends.

9. sigh, this is all because India got their shit kicked in by Pakistan

10. Bold of the author to say India ever had CONFIDENCE in US

11. I’m pretty sure India is also at fault here for continuing to buy Russian oil/weapons and showing up to a literal dictatorship summit with Xi, Putin, Kim Jong Un, and the world’s autocrats.

    Edit: lol All the Indians downvoting just don’t want to acknowledge the truth.

12. One thing people rarely pick up from India’s POV (and honestly, even the China camp missed this for a long time) is that India has always kept the door open for working with the US.

    From the start, India wanted stable ties with China too—that’s why it didn’t jump headfirst into QUAD’s “anti-China” narrative.

    Even now, India isn’t going to sign up for a hard strategic line against the US or the West.

    What India really wants is the space to engage on its own terms – without being boxed in or pressured to pick one side against the other.

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