No more the best friend: India targets Trump after May 10 debacle

ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to describe US President Donald Trump his best friend, but the tables have been turned since the White House occupant started telling the world that he had pressed India for a ceasefire.

Read more: Trump asks Pakistan and India to talk trade, not nukes

The result isn’t unexpected. How a strongman like Modi can admit that he had reached the US for a ceasefire after Pakistan shattered the myth of India as global power during the morning hours of May 10.

Certainly, the Operation Bunyanum al-Marsoos dealt a killer blow, with India unable to find support, except from Israel.

With the Modi government and the “Godi media” telling that Pakistan has been trampled like in a Bollywood movie, the sudden realisation that the reality is totally different could not be easy to digest.

The net result is the Indian media resorting to character assassination of Trump as if the Trump, who Modi invited for a public rally in Ahmedabad during his pervious term to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium, was someone else.

One cannot also forget how Modi had introduced Trump at a rally in the United States, where the Indian prime minister had assembled a crowd of Indian diaspora to prove his “allegiance” to Trump.

In fact, the Hindutva brigade has always been a great admirer of Trump. But things went upside down on May 10, as Modi failed to fulfil the dream of imposing Indian hegemony on Pakistan.

FROM BEST FRIEND TRUMP TO MANNERLESS TRUMP

The change is best summarised by Shashi Tharoor, the Congress leader who accepted the offer to lead an Indian delegation without even informing his party.

Fluent in “English” English, Tharoor, the writer and expert in foreign affairs, was the choice for Modi, as his BJP lacked the calibre to come up a name from its own rank to influence the Western audience.

His job is simple: promote Indian’s narrative after the May 10 debacle, but it seems Tharoor has lost the plot, just like the Modi government.

In a video circulated on social media, Tharoor says Trump is classless and mannerless with no dignity. One wonders how this will help India plead its case in the US or in any other part of the world.

IT ISN’T JUST CEASEFIRE

Despite projecting himself as friend of the Republican president, the ground realities tell another story during Trump 2.0.

It started with the tariffs, which Trump has made a cornerstone of his policy. He has even asked Apple not manufacture iPhones in India, as Modi wants to see his country a global manufacturing hub.

At the same time, the tough US immigration policy mean India is one of the worst affected country. Hence, we see the US visa ban on Indian travel agents.

With the student visas being imposed, India is directly in the firing range.

No wonder, India is fuming at Trump, who has suddenly been diagnosed with all the “evils”.