PM Modi Avoids Trump’s Calls Amid Tariff Row: Report

• Reports claim PM Modi avoided four calls from President Trump.
• The reported avoidance follows new US tariffs on Indian goods.
• Analysts suggest this move indicates India will not bow to US pressure.
• One analyst claims the US Indo-Pacific strategy is “falling apart.”

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 27th Aug: Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to take four recent phone calls from American President Donald Trump amid the escalating trade dispute, according to reports from German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Japan’s Nikkei Asia. The reports suggest the move reflects the “depth of his [Modi’s] anger, but also his caution.”

The reported avoidance of communication comes after President Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, a measure partially aimed at punishing New Delhi for its purchases of Russian crude oil. India has stated its resolve to stand firm against US pressure, with PM Modi vowing to “never compromise” the country’s interests, particularly those of its farmers.

According to the German publication, PM Modi’s unwillingness to engage demonstrates his irritation and India’s determination not to bow to pressure. Analyst Mark Frazier, from the India-China Institute at the New School, also claimed that the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy of containing China is “falling apart,” arguing that New Delhi never intended to side with Washington against Beijing. He suggested India’s shift is strategic, with shared interests in global influence and industrial growth with China.

The news comes as PM Modi is scheduled to visit China at the end of August to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The visit is being viewed as an attempt to ease tensions with Beijing amid the unpredictable trajectory of US-China relations and the unraveling of the celebrated US-India partnership.