V Sudarshan: Hitchhikers Guide To Trump’s Galaxy
Trump goes and says things that our Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson just can’t, not while the Parliament is on and in an unvarnished fashion. He doesn’t hide behind anonymity
Trump goes and says things that our Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson just can’t, not while the Parliament is on and in an unvarnished fashion. He doesn’t hide behind anonymity . Our spokespeople are trained to push out quietly intense, anodyne, vaguely supercilious on-record statements like “India and US ties have been through tough times and we will get through this one as well.” The newspapers then dutifully splash it on Page One, saying government has clarified and proceed to run editorials on those lines throwing in words like ‘thankfully’ or ‘not a moment too soon’ to qualify the clarification which is almost invariably as clear as mud. Trump just announced (Saturday our time, Friday his) for example, a major change in our energy policy, saying, “Well, I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. I don’t know whether that’s right or not. But it’s a good step! We will see what happens.” See, here is someone who also hands out certificates for good behavior with a patronizing pat pat and a veiled warning not to stray too far away from the recommended line. The carrot that follows the stick. Translated into English that is coercive diplomacy. The fall-out will be wide-ranging and result in wholesale transformations in our foreign policy postures. Some of the postures we will have to adopt on some of our shibboleth issues will make the most supple circus contortionist look like an unyielding log of wood in comparison.
It’s a wonder that New Delhi didn’t see it coming. It’s a wonder that the foreign policy and strategic lot consistently missed a whole lot of woods for a few stunted trees. That takes a lot of training. The warning signs have been there for a long time. Public admonitions from President Trump have come aplenty. The bush wire signaling inside the system from Foggy Bottom to South Block must have gone frantically clickety-clack. And yet, and yet, this happens. Trump has taken aim at our arms purchases from Russia, that will surely be next to be subsumed by a mass of spokesperson gobbledygook. Trump has made it clear what he thinks of BRICS grouping for instance. “When I heard about this group from BRICS, six countries, basically, I hit them very, very hard. And if they ever really form in a meaningful way, it will end very quickly.” And , “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter! ”New Delhi is set to be the next head honcho of this grouping. Good luck with that. So much for the Global South and people centric and humanity-first agenda and thanks for all the fish….
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/hitchhikers-guide-to-trumps-galaxy
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AJOY BOSE: Modi’s Vishwaguru Image Dented by Trump’s Tariffs, Taunts
The appalling impasse that the Modi government finds itself in with the relentless bullying tactics of US President Donald Trump is to a large extent of its own making. Had Prime Minister Narendra Modi not so aggressively posed as a Vishwaguru with a hotline to top world leaders, with Trump a close buddy, he may not have appeared so lost in the geopolitical storms blowing across the world.
Unfortunately for the triumphalist leader and his cohorts, they are hoist on their own petard.
Baited simultaneously by both the superpowers, China and the United States, the Prime Minister’s balloon as a global strongman floated by his propagandists has been palpably punctured. The first jolt to his uniquely personality-centric approach to foreign policy came when the Chinese betrayed him with a savage military intrusion across the border after he held hands with President Xi Jinping swinging on a Gujarati jhula. But this did not cause him much harm at home since the Chinese have always been distrusted since they invaded this country in 1962.
However, Trump’s never-ending barrage of thinly veiled taunts and insults over the past few months to needle India into surrendering to a totally unequal trade deal has stunned even the most faithful of Modi’s followers. Not least because the United States has been seen as India’s closest strategic ally in recent decades, with Trump as a personal buddy of the Vishwaguru….
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After the truth-shower 