WASHINGTON: Hours after conceding that the United States may have lost India and Russia to China, US President Donald Trump on Friday (Sept 5) took a sharp U-turn, saying he gets along very well with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sharing a photograph of PM Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, Trump had said, “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
However, when the reporters asked the US President about his post and who is to be blamed for losing India to Russia, Trump back-tracked, saying he doesn’t think Washington has lost New Delhi.
“Well I don’t think we have lost them. I’m disappointed that India is buying Russian oil and I’ve let them know with the 50 per cent tariff. But I get along very well with Modi,” the US President said.
Trump remarks came days after PM Modi met Putin and Xi during the SCO Summit 2025 in Tianjin, China.
This was his first visit to the hostile neighbour since 2018 and the deadly border standoff in 2020.
Several US experts have slammed the foreign policy of President Trump, saying that the US alienation of India has drawn Modi closer to China and Russia.
The meeting, which came against the backdrop of Trump’s imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on India, was seen by many as a direct threat to the US-led global order. - The Statesman/ANN
