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This episode of World Today, traces the evolution of India-US relations, from the Cold War era through decades of diplomatic efforts to the current turbulence and New Delhi's foreign policy in the Asian region.
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00:00Hello and welcome to World Today. I am Pranayopadhyay and today we are going to talk about how US
00:22President Donald Trump's inconsistent and unpredictable foreign policy moves has left
00:27world stunt from Canada to Panama from Mexico to China now he eyes a country which in every speech
00:34he has called a friend and yes we are talking about India but what is he doing and why is he
00:41doing this remains a big question let us walk through to the entire journey of India's foreign
00:47policy and India's geopolitical positioning vis-a-vis the US which is now changing yet another
00:54shift so let us walk through this entire journey because in World Today we are going to talk about
00:59the India-US relation and also the journey of India's foreign policy in the Asian region so now you can see
01:07that we are talking about 1950s after post-independence India's foreign policy was carved out was shaped
01:16and vis-a-vis the United with China our biggest neighbour and also the Soviet Union at that point
01:24of time which was pillar of the Cold War one pillar of the Cold War was Soviet Union and the other pillar
01:30was the United States and that was the Cold War era we are talking about the Hindi-Chini-Bhai-Bhai phase
01:37which was actually shaped during Prime Minister Jawala Nehru's time when there was a regime change
01:44there was a government change in China and the Communist Party came to power and Chau and Lai visited
01:49India at that point of time in 1957 then in 1960 and that was the time when Hindi-Chini-Bhai-Bhai time
01:56was there but after that let us talk to 1960s there was another change India fought with Pakistan in 1947-48
02:05and thereafter in 1960s we had a war with China and India-China war happened India shifts closer to
02:12Soviet Union at that point of time and that was a policy shift for India because from non-aligned
02:18movement to a closer shift towards USSR happened in 1960s and that was the geopolitical positioning of
02:26India that happened in 1970s what happened USSR backed India in Bangladesh war in 1971 you remember
02:34the kind of support the Soviet Union gave to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at that point of time
02:41and when US threatened India with the movement of seventh fleet in the Pacific in the Indo-Pacific
02:48command and that was the time but in the 80s what happened India-China military standoff in Arunachal
02:55happened that to be in Somdrangchu that was the thing that happened and Tiananmen Square protest happened
03:00US sanctions China that was another shift there the US came to this geopolitical theater where India
03:08became important and that was a time when Raj Prime Minister then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China
03:13and that was a time when the Chinese per capita income and Chinese economy was smaller or lesser than
03:19the Indian economy and Indian per capita income but thereafter the change happened and Henry Kissinger
03:26the US Secretary of State made the shift President Nixon's era that was the time when there was a
03:33shift and in 1990s USSR collapsed the big pillar of support for India in terms of the military support in
03:41terms of the geopolitical support India lost that thing and that was a time in 1990s India also opened up
03:49its economy US-eyed India as a prominent market and that actually brought a lot of change in terms of
03:56geopolitics in terms of India's positioning and India's geopolitics vis-a-vis United States and
04:02that was the time in 1991 India liberalized its economy opens up in 1998 India conducted nuclear test
04:10United States obviously sanctioned India made a lot of sanctions a lot of India's scientific programs
04:17ISRO's program India's missile development program got suffered just because of the US sanction that was the
04:22time and also US sanctioned Pakistan as well so many wars happened in between in 1965 India had a war
04:30with 1965 with Pakistan and that point of time US gave a lot of ammunition a lot of military hardware
04:37including the patent tanks to Pakistan and that was the time when this all this thing started shifting in
04:451990s we are talking about against Pakistan in Kargil war that was the time when US shifted
04:52its power balance and US started shifting towards India as well that was the time when the then US
04:58President Bill Clinton called the then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said you have to
05:04withdraw your troops from the Indian territory of Kargil Indian territory of Jumun Kashmir and that was the time which
05:12actually shifted the thing in 2000 Bill Clinton visited India after that thing that was a historic visit and that
05:19revived the bilateral relationship between India and United States that was a big shift and thereafter
05:26we have seen in last two and a half decade that a tremendous shift has happened in India-US relation
05:32in the year of in the in 2000 we have seen tremendous you know progress in India-US relation we have seen
05:39a lot of military hardware acquisition by India we have seen one two three agreements civil nuclear deal all
05:45these things happened in year in 2000s in the decade from from year 2000 to 2010 we have seen tremendous
05:52progress because the US President Bill Clinton visited in in in year 2000 thereafter President George
05:58Bush visited India thereafter US President Bill Barack Obama also visited India so a lot of US President
06:06visited India in 2005 India-US civil nuclear deal was announced that was a big shift India's nuclear apartheid
06:13ended in 2005 and that was a big shift as far as India-US relation is concerned
06:20thereafter a lot of things have happened during President Barack Obama's time India-US relation progressed
06:26but what has happened there comes US President Donald Trump in his first era in his first presidency between
06:342016 to 2020 Trump's first tenure has been very good it's like dosti ki gadi it's it's like yeh dosti hum nahi toden
06:44that kind of a thing that kind of partnership India you know got from US President Donald Trump what did
06:50he give Trump's first tenure was a game changer as far as India-US relation is concerned in 2018 Trump accused
06:56Pakistan of lies and deceit and froze military aid to Pakistan also in 2019 Howdy Modi event happened in
07:04India in Houston in in Texas and that was a big event there US President Donald Trump also joined
07:12Prime Minister Nareen Modi and that victory lap happened in that stadium that was a game changer that
07:16was an iconic image iconic you know visual that we got the world saw the partnership of India and US
07:24moving in that direction 2019 US condemned Pakistan-based terrorism post Pulwama attack also when article 370
07:33was abrogated at that point of time US gave full support to India also on counter-terrorism India US gave
07:40tremendous support to India also lot of uh a lot of big deals also happened uh during uh that presidency
07:47of President Donald Trump because the foundational agreement SISMOA, BECA, LEMOA all happened during
07:52the first presidency of Donald Trump in 2020 Namaste Trump happened that was just before uh President
07:58Donald Trump's election and he visited India we had Namaste Trump event in Ahmedabad in 2020 during the
08:05Ladakh standoff with China Trump offered a mediation however India rejected
08:10but President Donald Trump did not take it to heart and that's why uh you know India and US were
08:16partnered very well in that era but now President Donald Trump comes again in 2025 at uh as Trump 2.0 we
08:26thought world thought that that partnership of 2016 to 2020 India-US partnership Modi-Trump partnership
08:33is going to sail it is going it is going to reach to another heights but game changed here and
08:39Trump announced 25 percent reciprocal tariff on Indian exports on 2nd of April 2025 Trump labeled India
08:47alongside Russia and Trump imposed unspecified penalty for ties with Russia that is a big sanction we do not
08:55know how much penalty he is going to impose on India Trump announced a new trade deal with Pakistan
09:01that is like rubbing on India's wounds making the relationship sour that is the thing which Donald
09:07Trump is pursuing currently and that is a big changer that is a big big shift as far as Indo-US
09:13turns are concerned so what is President Donald Trump's game is what is he doing doing let us try and
09:20understand and let us uh I'm being joined by Ambassador Rahul Shabra who served in the Ministry of External
09:26Affairs as Secretary uh uh economic relation uh welcome to world today uh Ambassador Shabra
09:33good evening Pranay thank you for having me on your show uh Ambassador Shabra my first question to you
09:39would be how India's global positioning is evolving in the changing geopolitics and especially with respect
09:46to President Donald Trump calling India a friend and yet imposing heavy tariffs
09:51uh on your first part that uh India's global positioning is obviously improving as the economy
10:00increases I mean we as you may we have already become the fourth largest economy likely to become
10:05the third largest uh in the next uh by 20 before 2028 29 uh so that obviously adds a lot of uh economic
10:13heft uh to the entire status of India so that is a very important factor uh when we
10:20talk about geopolitics geoeconomics uh but on the other hand uh it's all not always smooth sailing
10:27in that sense so there is in diplomacy I mean of course President Trump calls us his friend but if
10:34there is something that he thinks is not in US interest and he needs to do something about it well then
10:41he's going to be tough and that's what we are seeing he's a transactional president he wants the best for
10:46his own country make America great again uh so in which case if he needs to take on his friends
10:51also uh India is one of them uh he's taken on the European Union he's taken on Canada he's taken on
10:58Mexico I mean these are all actually partner allies NATO NATO countries so you know so uh he will do that
11:05and we have to deal with it absolutely ambassador chabra you rightly pointed out uh that uh he's being
11:11transactional and he's being hard on on in fact uh you know his friends only uh but how should India
11:18counter the Trump's transactional approach like tariffs uh or his criticism over uh you know India's
11:23dealing with Russia while safeguarding the economic and the strategic interest of India
11:29the best way to deal with uh you know Trump is uh he's a little more emotional I mean he tweets uh
11:36policies uh which is not traditional diplomacy uh so uh but that's a new style that's his style uh so
11:43he's of course welcome to follow that uh we don't have to follow a tit for tat every time he tweets or
11:49every time he says something or you know he lays down a new sort of red line we don't need to immediately
11:54react to that uh we can take our time uh we negotiate internally within our own system government of
12:01India uh because it has to be commerce ministry finance ministry ministry of external affairs
12:07everybody will strategize uh together uh get the guidelines of the prime minister on an important
12:12topic like this and then we sort of put forth our response not necessarily in the public domain the way
12:18he has done so you know so while he has played out his cards he's put them out on the table a part of
12:23them uh we don't need to play again it doesn't have to be a very public sort of spat or a public
12:29discussion uh so these all go on behind the scenes there are back channels even official channels
12:35we don't have to be back channels so all this uh usual diplomatic work which we diplomats are used to
12:41uh that's probably going on as we speak uh i'm sure is going on uh and will lead to some positive results
12:47no denial about it uh bastard chhabra but what the kind of game president trump is playing he is pushing
12:53for uh pakistan's oil development so called you know whatever oil pakistan has uh and even suggesting
12:59so called sales to india is this this entire thing is very intriguing you know how might this impact
13:05india's energy security in terms of you know whatever uh you know penalty he's likely to impose on india
13:11and the regional dynamics because the kind of game he's playing uh you know with india and pakistan
13:16is a bit unusual uh how do you uh you know what do you make out of it you know he's playing his game so
13:23these are his cards he's playing his game uh we have to play our own game uh so we have to strengthen
13:30our own internal in terms of economic security defense security our security on the borders so we
13:38have to strengthen our own country uh irrespective of what he's doing i mean we let him do what he's
13:43doing because there's no way you can control his tweets or his policy uh you can influence it as
13:49diplomats i mean you speak to his people in his team speak to president trump himself prime minister
13:54modi i'm sure has spoken to him so whatever impact that has uh but the end game is really that you
13:59have to strengthen yourselves to be able to take on challenges of this nature which are going to keep
14:04coming to you uh this is sort of the beginning of the challenge uh and then you know we don't know
14:10how serious the oil reserves are so we don't need to get unnecessarily perturbed i mean that's he maybe
14:16he's heard something about the or pakistan's oil reserve we aren't aware about uh those reserve
14:21but uh or maybe he's just you know he's just trying to call the bluff or he's trying we got to call his
14:27bluff so we don't but we don't have to do it publicly we just obviously we don't have to engage with
14:32uh president donald trump in this public game and or like you know the this verbal volume you rightly
14:36pointed out uh ambassador chabra thank you very much for joining us and uh as ambassador chabra pointed
14:41it out that uh he's playing his game but president donald trump is trying to play uh my way or highway
14:47this is going to hurt uh india u.s bilateral relationship which actually took years of uh
14:52you know hard work by diplomats like ambassador chabra and many other indian diplomats but what
14:57is happening on the other front let's talk about u.s russia relationship as well because the relationship
15:02between u.s president donald trump and russian president vladimir putin once again raised eyebrows
15:08on world stage marked by mutual praise and an unusual level of warmth but the dynamic appears
15:14to have shifted dramatically president donald trump who previously hesitated from condemning
15:19russian president and russia's action in ukraine is now taking a much tougher stance threatening
15:25sweeping economic penalties if the war doesn't end soon and this comes as ukraine continue to suffer
15:31devastating losses take a look at this report putin is smart which of course he's smart yesterday
15:41reporters asked me if i thought president putin was smart i said of course he's smart to which i was
15:48greeted with oh that's such a terrible thing to say it wasn't too long ago when u.s president
15:55donald trump showered russian president vladimir putin with praise in a world where few dead to
16:01complement the kremlin leader trump stood out calling putin smart and strong and even referring him to
16:08as a friend he's a very smart guy he's a very cunning person and the sentiment seemed mutual president
16:17putin maintained a notably cordial relationship with trump the rapport was one of the most surprising
16:22romance on the global stage that nobody saw coming first of all i can tell you his behavior at the
16:31moment of the attempt on his life impressed me he turned out to be a courageous man please don't be
16:41angry i understand that we could talk more but it is so awkward to make him wait he could get offended
16:47thank you very much good luck the story cd trump never directly criticized russia for launching the
16:55war against ukraine instead he repeatedly questioned ukrainian president vladimir zelensky actions and
17:01leadership at one point his administration even paused military aid to ukraine a decision that was later
17:09reversed but the once warm trump putin friendship seems to have taken a sad turn after multiple attempts
17:17to mediate a deal between russia and ukraine trump was less disappointed and his diplomatic efforts
17:23met with silence from a leader he once called a friend however trump did not held back his criticism
17:31of president putin on several occasions he publicly called out the russian leader for his failure to
17:38strike a ceasefire and even issued an ultimatum for russia and i'm disappointed in president putin because i
17:45thought we would have had a deal two months ago but it doesn't seem to get there so based on that
17:51we're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days it's very simple and
17:56they'll be at 100 and that's the way it is that can be more simple it's just the way it is i hope we
18:02don't have to do it he even threatened russia with fresh sanctions and 100 secondary tariff measures that
18:10could seriously impact the russian economy but just like his shifting stance on trade deals trump's
18:17position on russia continues to evolve what began as a 50-day ultimatum has now been shortened to just
18:2410 to 12 days i'm going to make a new deadline of about 10 10 or 12 days from today no reason you're
18:35waiting there's no reason waiting it's 50 days i want to be generous but we just don't see any progress
18:43being made but what remains the real concern isn't the trump putin dynamic but how ukraine continues
18:51to suffer while the two leaders are engaged in a tom and jerry like fight recently russia escalated its
18:59assault in ukraine launching a wave of missiles and drone strikes on kiev with 27 locations across
19:05the capital struck in a single day of violence with neha kumari bureau report india today
19:17this is all we have in world today for more global stories do watch india today global take care and good
19:29this is all we have but i value in world today for a while
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