Trump’s America First Does Not Equal India First

Are India-US ties on a better footing? The arrival of President Donald Trump’s close associate Sergei Gor as American ambassador in January ended a downward spiral in relations that began with Trump imposing punitive tariffs on India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Trump in February and broke the deadlock over a bilateral trade agreement and since then there has been a gradual upswing in relations. US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit last week, seen as an exercise in repairing ties, worked well on the whole, there was a message for Rubio too.

The messaging happened during the joint press conference by minister of external affairs S Jaishankar and Rubio after their meeting on May 24. To begin with there was a sharp question to Rubio about rising instances of racism against Indians and Indian Americans in the US that seemed to take the secretary of state by surprise. As a flustered moderator sought to move on, Rubio answered the question with a generalized observation about loudmouths in both the US and India.

Racism against Indian Americans

“Look, I’m sure that there are people that have made comments online and other places, because every country in the world has stupid people. I’m sure there are stupid people here. There are stupid people in the United States that make dumb comments all the time. I don’t know what else to tell you other than the United States is a very welcoming country,” Rubio said. Yet, it was a delicate moment. If the question had been more specific about Trump’s lack of condemnation of hate against Indian Americans, the conversation might have taken a different turn.

At a grand diplomatic gala hosted by the US embassy the same evening, Gor got Trump on call and the US President declared himself as a “friend” of India and said he was a great fan of Modi. The mood at the dinner at Bharat Mandapam was upbeat with Bollywood tunes revving up the evening. A reasonably successful meeting of the foreign ministers of the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) followed after the bilateral meetings even though the date of the leadership summit to be hosted by India was not announced. The revival of the QUAD process serves India’s interests and is evidence that Trump may not have switched off from the India-Pacific.

Jaishankar’s formulation

But before the QUAD engagements, at the presser with Rubio, Jaishankar choose to make a point or two with some deliberation while answering questions on India’s expectations from the Trump Administration at a time of conflicts, geopolitical headwinds and energy insecurity and whether the QUAD continued to be relevant for the Trump administration. “I think, look, where the United States is concerned, the Trump Administration has been very forthright in putting forward its foreign policy outlook as America first. Now, where we are concerned, we have a view of India first,” he said.

Jaishankar elaborated his point, saying “So both of us are obviously driven by our respective national interests. There will be many areas where our national interests are in harmony and we work together, which is why we have a strategic partnership. There could be some where they don’t, in which case we have to manage those situations….(on energy purchases) I certainly expressed the Indian point of view that we strongly believe that energy markets should be left to the market.”

Plain Speak

The Indian viewpoint could not have been conveyed more clearly. America First was not India’s overriding priority and it was not bound to supplicate its interests towards such a goal. The fact is that in the last year and a half US has acted in a manner that has been downright unfriendly. For one there was harsh, bullying rhetoric from some of Trump cronies, best described as “attack dogs,” aimed at Modi and India. This went hand in hand with hostile actions such as imposition of a 25% tariff for India’s import of Russian oil that took the overall rate to 50%. The vindictive action was driven purely by pique over Modi’s point-blank refusal to endorse Trump’s claims – which like a fisherman’s tale became more and more expansive at every telling – that he had mediated a halt to India-Pakistan hostilities ast year.

India has a lot riding on ties with the US. India’s rise closely depends on cooperation with the US in defence, technology and commercial investments. The security relationship is crucial as India looks to hedge against China’s aspirations to be the Asian hegemon. Jaishankar’s remarks were a reminder that the US behaved had poorly with India and the opportunistic courting of Pakistan -- and Trump’s frequent reference to its army chief as “field marshal” in approving terms -- was not appreciated. Rubio did answer a question on the US’s ties with Pakistan by saying relations with India are not dependent on any other relationship. But this requires a sensitivity towards New Delhi’s interests.

A troika in Tianjin

A highly publicised huddle between Modi, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Tianjin on September 1, last year was not a coincidence. India’s ties with China are far from normal and the meeting took place after active Chinese assistance to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. But it served to indicate that it is not the sole prerogative of the US to re-align. If strategic partnerships are not dependable and consistent then they hardly serve any purpose. Rubio would have had plenty to think on his way back to Washington.