modi-faces-nehru-moment-of-1962

What US President Donald Trump has done with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a striking similarity with what first Chinese premier Zhou Enlai did with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Betrayal. While the two situations are entirely different, the element of betrayal is common.

 

Although Trump has not chosen India exclusively for his punitive tariffs, the way he has done it leaves a bad taste. After all, India, unlike China, has been a friend to the United States, a fact Trump acknowledges himself. More so, Modi has, in the past gone, out of the way to help and support Trump during his second bid for the US Presidency, which he lost in 2020.

 

Trump, like a typical dictator, announced the 25 per cent unilateral tariffs on India on his social media platform Truth Social in his characteristic brash and uncouth way. Normally elected governments adopt and follow certain procedures and protocols to make such announcements. Like everything else, Trump does not give a damn to diplomatic nuances and niceties, certainly not quite unexpected from someone so famous for his letters to friends like Jeffrey Epstein.

 

No doubt Trump has been firmly following his mission of ‘Making America Great Again’ (MAGA), through which he wants to bring all the jobs back to America and boost US economy. He is entitled to do so and imposing tariffs on India was part of that. But he could still do it in a better way, much expected of someone holding the most powerful position in the world.

 

India, for sure, was not entitled to any exemptions. If Trump can impose such punitive tariffs on his allies like Canada and the European countries, India should not feel much aggrieved.

 

Coming back home, the Opposition parties seem to be sadistically “celebrating” the Trump tariffs on India, as if these have been exclusively imposed on Modi and he is responsible for these. The Opposition parties, particularly the Congress and its leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, are trying to lay the entire blame on Prime Minister Modi, alluding to his past “friendship” with Trump. They have been taunting Modi, reminding him repeatedly that his “friend” has imposed 25 percent tariffs on India and also struck a deal for oil exploration with our hostile neighbour Pakistan.

 

However, it is not happening for the first time that an Indian leader has been betrayed by a foreign leader presumably by a friend, like Modi thought, Trump was. He still may be considering Modi to be his friend, but when it comes to the national interest and priority, personal relationships do go to the background and national interest takes precedence. Trump had vowed and pledged to make America great again and he is committed to make it so the way he thinks he can, by imposing tariffs on imports from various countries. In the process these countries, including India, may and probably will get economically hit. 

 

It reminds one of the 1950s and early 1960s, when an iconic and charismatic leader like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the country's Prime Minister. He had become the Prime Minister of the country after the independence, inheriting a disorganised and economically poor nation. He had chosen a particular path for Indian diplomacy. He tried to build strong ties with neighbouring China, particularly then Chinese premier, Zhou Enlai, with whom he had a friendly relationship, probably like Modi had with Trump. Nehru and Enlai had signed the five-point peace programme, the ‘Panchsheel’ that led to the popularity of the slogan, ‘Hindi-Cheeni Bhai Bhai’.

 

Also read: Modi is more like Indira than Nehru; aggressively decisive

 

Like Modi campaigned for Donald Trump for his second term re-election, which he lost, Nehru supported China and Enali at the international level. After the Chinese Civil War, which saw Communists taking over mainland China, Taiwan was given recognition in international fora and Communist China, described as the ‘Peoples Republic of China’ was excluded from the United Nations. India under Pandit Nehru was the first non-Communist country to recognise PRC. Pandit Nehru also strongly lobbied for China’s inclusion into the United Nations, but not the security council as is widely believed. The Security Council seat was provided to Taiwan, which it held till 1971, seven years after his death.

 

And then these relationships faced the headwinds of the “respective national interests”, which eventually led to the Chinese aggression on India in October 1962. China outdid India militarily and the country suffered the worst defeat. China occupied some portion of land, which is still under its occupation. It was one of the worst betrayals by any country with its friendly neighbour (till then), which had stood by it against all odds.

 

Trump certainly has not launched a war on India, but the ‘tariff war’ is as dangerous as the real war between the defence forces of two countries. Tariff war has the dangerous potential of immensely damaging the economy of the country. A 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports to the US will badly hit some prime sectors in India like electronics goods, pharmaceuticals and precious stones.

 

As already mentioned, Trump’s tariff regime is not just India specific. He has imposed these tariffs on his closest allies like Canada and the European countries and Japan as well. He apparently does not seem to have any reason to make an exception for India.

 

As regards to his deal of oil exploration with India’s hostile neighbour Pakistan, there are multiple factors. One can’t imagine or expect the United States, or for that matter any other country, to deal with Pakistan while keeping Indian sentiments in view. Trump is dealing with India and Pakistan separately and independently and he is within his right to do so.

 

It would be highly unfair to hold Modi responsible for all this or describe it to be the failure of his government’s foreign policy. After all, it is not India which determines the US trade policies. No opposition in any other country has blamed its government for the tariffs imposed on that country by the US. Indian Opposition is the only exception, which is holding Modi responsible for Trump’s tariffs.