Donald Trump has built much of his political persona on the “art of the deal.” Yet, in his dealings with India, the US President appears to have mistaken India’s quiet resolve for weakness—a miscalculation fraught with consequences for the broader US-India relationship, not just bilateral trade.
While most nations, save China, have at some point bent to Trump’s tariff diktats, India is holding its ground. The European Union, Britain, Japan—even corporate America with its trillion-dollar balance sheets—have all played along, offering tribute to the “Emperor of Washington, D.C.” Even a bankrupt country like Pakistan is offering the mineral riches of Balochistan to ingratiate itself with Trump.
New Delhi’s approach has been markedly different. From the outset, India resisted provocation, focusing on substance rather than theatre. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and…