As Donald Trump pushes India to fully align with Washington through punitive tariffs and diplomatic pressure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to fly to Beijing for his first visit to China in seven years represents a calculated demonstration of India’s foreign policy independence.

Modi’s strategic engagement with President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is not about replacing America with China; it is about showing the world, and particularly Washington, that India retains alternatives and will not be coerced into a junior partnership with any superpower.

Trump’s aggressive economic assault on India has fundamentally altered the strategic calculus in New Delhi. The American President’s imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, ostensibly as punishment for purchasing discounted Russian oil, represents the most severe trade action against India since the 1990s.

These tariffs, which doubled existing duties and affect $87 billion worth of Indian exports annually, have effectively placed India among the most heavily penalised trading partners of the United States. The economic implications are stark: Indian exporters, who can barely manage 10-15 per cent cost increases, now face what analysts describe as a “trade embargo" that could render entire sectors uncompetitive.

The Brutish Designs of American Pressure

Trump’s strategy extends far beyond tariffs, encompassing a comprehensive campaign to force India into complete alignment with Washington’s global agenda. The administration has criticised India’s continued energy cooperation with Russia, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly urging European allies to join America in imposing additional tariffs on India. This coordinated pressure represents a departure from previous administrations that accommodated India’s strategic autonomy as the price for broader cooperation against China.

The personal dimension of Trump’s antagonism toward India has become increasingly apparent. The president has described India as having the “highest tariffs" in the world and dismissed it as possessing a “dead economy". More significantly, Trump’s apparent embrace of Pakistan’s military leadership, including hosting Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, has deeply alarmed Indian officials who perceive this as an attempt to “re-hyphenate" India-Pakistan relations after decades of American acknowledgement of India’s superior strategic importance.

White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro’s accusation that New Delhi is “cosying up to both Russia and China" whilst expecting to be treated as a strategic partner crystallises the Trump administration’s fundamental misunderstanding of Indian foreign policy. This transactional approach, which demands exclusive loyalty in exchange for partnership, collides directly with India’s doctrine of strategic autonomy—a principle that has guided........

© News18