The US president hosted Pakistani army chief Asim Munir at the White House just weeks after a bitter conflict between the two South Asian rivals.

He then signed a trade deal with Pakistan, offering the country a preferential tariff rate of 19%, along with a deal to explore the country’s oil reserves. He went as far as saying that some day, Pakistan might sell oil to India.

Another constant irritant for Delhi is Trump’s repeated assertion that the US brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

India sees its dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir as its internal affair and has always rejected third-party mediation on the issue. Most world leaders have been sensitive to Delhi’s position, including Trump in his first stint as president.

But that’s no longer the case. The US president has doubled down on his claim even after Modi told India’s parliament that “no country had mediated in the ceasefire”.

Modi didn’t name Trump or the US but domestic political pressure is mounting on him not to “bow down” to the White House.

“The fact that this is happening against the backdrop of heavy and high-level US engagement with Islamabad immediately after an India-Pakistan conflict is even more galling for Delhi and the wider Indian public. This all sharpens concerns harboured by some in India that the US can’t truly be trusted as a partner,” says Washington-based South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman.

He adds that some of the anger in Delhi might “be Cold War-era baggage coming to the fore”, but “this time around it’s intensified by real-time developments as well”.

Modi’s government thrives on nationalist issues, so its supporters would likely expect a firm response to the US.

It’s a Catch-22 situation – Delhi still wants to clinch a deal but also doesn’t want to come across as buckling under Trump’s pressure.

And it appears that Delhi is gradually releasing the restraint. In its response to Washington’s anger over India’s purchase of Russian oil, Delhi vowed to take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its “national interests and economic security”.

But the question is why Trump, who loved India’s hospitality and called it a great country earlier, has gone on a tirade against a trusted ally.

Some analysts see his insults as a pressure tactic to secure a deal that he thinks works for the US.

“Trump is a real estate magnate and a tough negotiator. His style may not be diplomatic, but he seeks the outcomes diplomats would. So, I think what he’s doing is part of a negotiating strategy,” says Jitendra Nath Misra, a former Indian ambassador and now a professor at OP Jindal Global University.

A source in the Indian government said that Delhi gave many concessions to Washington, including no tariffs on industrial goods, and a phased reduction of tariffs on cars and alcohol. It also signed a deal to let Elon Musk’s Starlink start operations in India.

But Washington wanted access to India’s agriculture and dairy sectors to reduce the $45bn trade deficit it runs with Delhi.