The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, rejected an invitation from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to visit the White House for the concern of establishing a meeting with the chief of the field marshal of the state state of the army also Munir, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, citing the continuous imports of Russian oil in New Delhi in a movement that strongly increased tensions between the two nations after commercial conversations reached a dead point. The new import tax, established to enter three weeks, will increase the tariffs of some Indian exports of up to 50 percent, among the highest raised in any US trade partner.
While the rupture in ties between the United States and India was abrupt, there have been strains in the relationship. Delhi has repeatedly refuted Trump’s repeated statements that the United States negotiated a high fire between India and Pakistan after four days of struggle between neighbors with nuclear weapons in May. Trump also received the head of the Pakistan army at the White House in the weeks after the conflict.
The two leaders spoke on the phone before Trump’s insistence on the margin of the June G7 summit in Canada, which Modi attended as a guest. The call lasted 35 minutes.
“Prime Minister Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage of issues such as the commercial agreement of India-United States or US mediation between India and Pakistan,” said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of India, Vikram Misri, about the talk. “The conversations to cease military action occurred directly between India and Pakistan through the existing military channels, and about the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasized that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do so,” he said.
Bloomberg He reported today that “tensions reached a critical point” between the two leaders in the call with the repeated credit claim of Trump and the minimism of India.
“Modi felt that he needed to clarify the record in the call after his assistants discovered that Trump planned to organize a lunch the next day at the White House for the Pakistani army chief also Munir,” the report cited officials in New Delhi familiar with the matter, who requested the anonymity that spoke about confidential discussions.
“While India had no problem if Trump met with Pakistan’s civil leaders, it was seen that Munir’s host gave legitimacy to an army that Modi’s government accuses of supporting militant groups, they said.
He added that from the phone call, “India saw a change in the tone of the White House after that phone call, according to New Delhi officials” despite the fact that the United States did not make a direct request of Modi to recognize Trump’s role.
“Once Trump began to publicly attack India, they added, it was clear that the episode marked a turning point in the broader relationship,” the report said.
Modi said a day ago that he did not commit to the agricultural sector.
For New Delhi, one of the main conflict points in trade negotiations has been Washington’s demand to access the vast agricultural and dairy market of India. India has remained firm about its intensive laboratory agricultural sector, which is not willing to risk angry farmers, a powerful voting block.
“We will not commit ourselves to the interests of our farmers, our dairy sector, our fishermen,” Modi said during a speech at a conference in New Delhi, his widely seen comments as their first public response to tariffs.
“I know I will have to pay a personal price for this, but I am ready for it,” he added, without giving more details.
In February, Trump said he found a “special link” with Modi when he visited Washington, congratulating Modi as a “much harder negotiator” than him.
The successive US administrations have seen India, the most populous nation in the world and the fifth largest economy, as a key partner, with interests of related ideas against the powerful China.
India and the Chinese neighbor have long been rivals that compete for the strategic influence in southern Asia.
Now, India is preparing for a trip full of potholes, since the United States is its largest commercial partner, with New Delhi shipping products worth $ 87.4 billion in 2024.
