PM Modi rejected four calls from Trump: Report
The report by 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung' comes as the US imposes a new 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports over oil purchases from Russia
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently rejected at least four phone calls from US President Donald Trump, triggering a sensation. The report was published just days ahead of Wednesday (August 27), when America’s additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports kicked in, raising the total to 50 per cent.
The additional tariff was imposed as a penalty for New Delhi buying oil from Russia, which has faced the West’s flak for its war in Ukraine.
The FAZ article, headlined 'Trump ruft an, Modi hebt nicht ab' (Trump calls, Modi doesn't pick up), said, “According to information from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Trump has made four attempts in recent weeks to get the Indian prime minister on the phone. But he has refused to speak.”
Also read: Trump is a 'friend': Goyal sees no hurdles in Indo-US partnership
The report also said that there were signs that Modi felt offended after the American president put a 25 per cent export tariff on India, only to double it later, accusing India of aiding Russia’s war machine by buying its oil.
The FAZ, which has closely examined the ongoing tariff dispute between India and the US, is a 76-year-old newspaper published daily from Frankfurt and considered a newspaper of record for the European nation.
The Federal, however, couldn’t verify the claims made by the publication.
Also read: Trump’s 50 pc tariff on Indian goods takes effect as US doubles import duties
Thorsten Benner, co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin, shared a copy of the FAZ report on X on Tuesday (August 26) and said, “FAZ claims that Trump tried to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times in recent weeks but that Modi refused the calls.”
Netizens react
Diverse reactions poured in after Benner's post.
One called it “German propaganda,” aiming to push the narrative that “Modi is more of a megalomaniac than Trump”. Another called the news “highly suspicious”, saying it is “not the way Modi works”.
Also read: Amid Trump's tariff war, Modi’s Tokyo visit to cement India-Japan strategic ties
Besides the tariff fiasco, Trump’s repeated claims that he successfully intervened after India and Pakistan had a brief military confrontation during Operation Sindoor in May to make the two nations arrive at a ceasefire also did not go down well with the Indian side.