India is used to bullies in its many years of existence, said a historian. The ploy of the US is to make India as pliable as the other countries, almost like a vassal, he said. 

Historian and academic Hindol Sengupta, referring to the pressure tactics deployed by the US and Trump said, “The entire ploy of America has always been to bring friends down to the vassal level. This is what Germany, South Korea, Japan etc. are. Since independence, no government in India has ever accepted this. Better men than TACO have tried, and failed.” 

“As the Chinese remind the US, they have 5,000 years of history. They are patient. They can wait. India has, by all counts, even more. India is used to bullies. TACO’s tweets are juvenile. He will be gone soon. Eternal India will still remain steadfastly independent-minded, never a vassal. Always willing to be a friend on EQUAL TERMS. From the time Purava told Alexander, ‘Treat me as you would treat a king’ on the banks of the Indus, India has been telling this to the West. You will come and go, but we will remain. We are a civilisation. You are merely a state,” he said.

Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on India even as the trade deal talks are going on. A team from Washington is scheduled to arrive in India on August 25. 

Despite this, Trump has refused to pause the tariff – a concession he seems to have allowed China and Mexico to finalise their deals. Not only that, he called the Indian economy “dead” in his harshest criticism yet. “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” he said, prompting everyone to point out that India has been growing faster than the US economy. 

Trump’s lack of tact appears to be an indication of his growing frustration with New Delhi, something that both US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated on different occasions. 

Washington is miffed with New Delhi’s decision to buy sanctioned Russian oil, which it has been able to procure for a cheap rate. India’s purchases are emboldening Russia to maintain the war on Ukraine, as per Washington. Moreover, the US also wants India to open up its agriculture and dairy sectors, something that New Delhi has refused to do.