August 31, 2025

Hold on to your hats, folks! The friendship fireworks between President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have fizzled into cool embers. Trump has made a surprising decision: he will skip the big Quad meeting in India later this year, as reported by The New York Times. This is big news because these two leaders once shared warm hugs and praises. Modi even said Trump helped "make India great again!" But the crack appeared when Trump slapped a monster 50% tariff on some Indian goods. Why? Because India kept buying Russian oil—fueling Moscow’s war in Ukraine, something Trump hates and wants to stop. Modi didn’t back down and said India was "ready" to pay the "heavy price" for these tough US tariffs. Meanwhile, India told the world it's not planning to stop buying Russian oil soon and wants to be more self-reliant by focusing on Indian-made products. Flashback to June: Trump and Modi spoke on the phone. Trump bragged about helping end India-Pakistan border fights and suggested Modi should back his Nobel Peace Prize hopes. Modi said the two nations solved their issues on their own and didn’t take Trump’s claims seriously. Since then, silence between the two leaders. The tariffs caused a big stir in India. During a festival, people paraded a Trump effigy on the streets, holding signs warning that Washington will "end up regretting India's strength" and that tariffs "will only ruin their business." The Quad meeting, where India, the US, Australia, and Japan come together for security talks and joint military drills, is now missing Trump. He revived this group in 2017 to push back against China's growing muscle in the Indo-Pacific. His absence speaks volumes about the chilly relations. Trump vented on his Truth Social posts, saying, "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care." He accused India of buying huge amounts of Russian oil and then selling much of it for big profits, ignoring the Ukraine humanitarian crisis. He blasted, "I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA." On the flip side, Modi urged Indians in a recent speech: "I appeal to the citizens of our country to prioritize purchasing goods that are made in India." He added, "My government will never allow any harm to come to small entrepreneurs, farmers and animal keepers. No matter how much pressure we face, we will continue to strengthen our ability to withstand it." So, the India-US love story is now a story of tariffs, tough talk, and a test of new economic self-reliance. Will these two giants mend fences or keep throwing trade punches? Only time will tell!

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Tags: Donald trump, Narendra modi, India-usa trade, Tariffs, Quad meeting, Russian oil,