Trump miffed as India ignored his ceasefire claims, says ex-diplomat on US tariffs
Vikas Swarup says Trump is miffed India refused to credit him for mediating the May military ceasefire with Pakistan, which might have led to punitive tariffs
One of the key reasons behind US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap 25 per cent punitive tariffs on India over the purchase of Russian oil is that Trump is unhappy with India for refusing to acknowledge his claim of mediating a ceasefire with Pakistan following the military conflict in May, former diplomat Vikas Swarup has said.
Speaking to ANI, Swarup, who served as the High Commissioner of Canada, played down the increasing bilateral interactions between the US and Pakistan, terming it as a “short-term tactical” arrangement while describing the India-US relations as a “strategic”.
Ceasefire claims and BRICS issues
Swarup also said that Trump’s notion of the BRICS grouping being an “anti-US” entity may have also played a role in slapping punitive tariffs on India, which is a key member of the platform.
“We have to understand why these tariffs have been imposed. I personally feel that there are three reasons. One, Trump is not happy with India because we are a member of BRICS, and somehow, in his head, he has got this notion that BRICS is an anti-American alliance which is hell-bent on creating an alternative currency to the dollar. So, because of that, he feels that India should not be a member of the BRICS. Two, Operation Sindoor and his so-called role in bringing about the ceasefire,” said Swarup as quoted by ANI.
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Trump’s Nobel Prize ambitions
Pointing out that Trump has so far repeated his claim of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan almost 30 times and stopped a nuclear conflict between the two countries, Swarup said that the US President was unhappy with India not acknowledging his alleged contribution to the peace deal whereas Pakistan has already acknowledged it and nominated him for a Nobel peace prize.
"Trump is a dealmaker, and he has now made it his USP that he is the peacemaker. Look at the number of conflict situations that he has mediated in, whether it is Thailand and Cambodia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan; he has injected himself into each of those. He feels that the biggest one of these was the India and Pakistan one because these two are nuclear powers," he said.
"So, from that point of view, Trump feels that he deserves credit and Obama is the only Amercian President to have got the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump really wants to do one better than Obama, and that is why, I think, he has made no secret of his longing for that Nobel Peace Prize. He is hoping that if he could not get it for these, if he has been able to bring about a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, then that might be his ticket to the Nobel Peace Prize," he added.
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US’ pressure tactics
Swarup also said that the US was resorting to pressure tactics to make India agree to his maximalist demands in relation to the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), adding that Washington is seeking wider access to India’s dairy and agriculture sectors.
“ This is part of his pressure tactics to get India to sign on the dotted line on the maximalist demands that the US is making with regard to access to our dairy and agriculture and GM Crops. We have not caved i,n and it is also in a way a signal to Russia because he is also frustrated that he has not been able to get President Putin to agree to the ceasefire that Zelenskyy has agreed to," he added.
(With agency inputs)