Normally, the new US president’s first 100 days are taken to assess the administration’s efficacy. Even after 180 days, the possible resolution of trade disputes and ongoing military operations in Ukraine and Gaza are still unclear. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese undertook a 6-day China visit in mid-July to balance relations between strategic partner America and vital economic patron China. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, suggested closer engagement “no matter how the international landscape may evolve”.

A similar dilemma confronts Indian policymakers handling diplomacy and trade. Take Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s visit to Brazil for the BRICS summit. He was still en route to India when a spat erupted between the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and US president Donald Trump. The altercation was not over foreign policy differences but President Trump’s blatant interference in Brazil’s internal affairs. He demanded that the trial against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro be dropped. Interestingly, the charges, identical to past allegations against Trump, are of using extra-constitutional methods to retain power. Lula rejected the US intervention and even threatened retaliation if the US imposed punitive tariffs. In May 2025, he also visited Beijing for the China-CELAC Forum, a dialogue between China, Latin America and the Caribbean nations. President Lula maintained that Latin America wanted to be “the axis of a multipolar order where the Global South is duly represented”.

Thus, the world today faces a........

© Free Press Journal