US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would hit India with higher duties within 24 hours, after New Delhi slammed Washington’s tariff threats over its purchase of Russian oil as “unjustified and unreasonable,” jeopardizing their emerging partnership.
Though Indian elites long viewed the US with suspicion, relations between the two countries have improved in recent decades — particularly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, with Washington viewing the Asian nation as a potential bulwark against a rising China.
But Indian scholars and officials are increasingly angry with the US: One leading expert warned that capitulating to Washington would be “an affront to India’s dignity,” others lauded the country’s warming relations with Beijing, and a former top Indian diplomat argued that “there is very little possibility of a reconciliation.”
