- 5 months ago
On India Today Global, the focus is on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Japan, beginning August 29th, and subsequent trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. This diplomatic engagement occurred amid escalating trade tensions with the United States after Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods. The programme delves into the sharp rhetoric from the Trump administration, particularly from White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, who labelled the Russia-Ukraine conflict "Modi's war," accusing New Delhi of financing Russia by purchasing its oil. A key quote highlights this accusation: "India then uses American dollars to buy Russian oil. Russia then uses those American dollars that come from India to finance its armaments to kill Ukrainians." The show also examines India's firm response, the hypocrisy alleged by critics of the US policy, and the strategic importance of strengthening partnerships with Japan and China at this critical juncture.
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00:00Hello and welcome. You're watching India Today Global with me, Geeta Mohan.
00:18Let's begin with our top news as Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for a two-day and a two-country
00:24visit to Japan and China. He will begin his visit in Japan. That's a two-day visit between
00:29August 29th and August 30th. There are three broad elements of the visit in Japan. Security,
00:37economy, science and technology, innovation and people-to-people exchange. The two sides
00:42are expected to upgrade the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, launch an economic
00:49security initiative on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and critical minerals and increase
00:56investments targets to 7 to 10 trillion yen. Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart,
01:02Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, will take part in the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit and are
01:07also expected to travel to Sendai, a city known for its semiconductor prowess, in a bullet train.
01:14While this will begin Modi's eighth visit to Japan, it is his first summit with Prime Minister
01:19Ishiba. Ahead of his departure, in a statement, Prime Minister Modi said,
01:24During my visit to Japan, we would focus on shaping the next phase in our special strategic
01:29and global partnership, which has made steady and significant progress over the past 11 years.
01:35And then he continues to talk about his visit to Japan, where he says,
01:38From Japan, I will travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit.
01:43And then, again, he confirms his meetings, bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping of China
01:50and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. These are the important aspects of the relationship
01:57that will be talked about. He is going to focus on peace, sustainable development, and regional and
02:04world peace at a time when tariffs are hitting all the countries and impacting all the countries.
02:10So, an important visit there. And to discuss this and more, I am being joined by Daniel Bloch.
02:15He is a senior editor with Foreign Affairs magazine. Daniel, thank you so much for joining us here
02:19on the network. Let's begin with the business itself. It's quite crucial that India engages Japan
02:25and China. It is an important ally of India. But also, at this juncture, he is also going to talk to
02:32China. This comes when India faces a very tough time with the United States of America.
02:42I think that's right. I mean, I think that's exactly what the Indian government is thinking.
02:47For a while, India and the United States had been drawn closer, in part because they shared a
02:53competitor in China. And they had different reasons to compete with China. Some were the same,
02:58but they had kind of the shared, if not enemy, the shared country that they wanted to constrain.
03:04And now, that's kind of been thrown into flux by the trade war. And China and India remain enormous
03:11trading partners. They have been even throughout the various tensions that India and China have had.
03:16So, I'm not surprised at all to see the Indian government looking to shore up and improve relations
03:21with Beijing. Right. Daniel, in terms of the White House itself, we're looking at a lot of mixed signals
03:27coming from the White House. On the one hand, the adviser comes out and says that there is going to be,
03:33that India is going to pay a heavy price, that if Modi does not budge, neither will Trump,
03:39another adviser saying. And then Besant coming out and saying that there could be some common ground.
03:44What's really happening over here? Well, as always, with Donald Trump, it's pretty hard to say.
03:52And I think there are probably multiple voices within the administration. I mean, Navarro and
03:57Besant being two examples of this, who are pushing or pulling Trump in various directions. You certainly
04:03have some people like the Treasury Secretary, who are a little bit more technocratic in mind. And I do
04:09think want to see a resolution to this trade war. But then you have kind of the trade hawks like Navarro,
04:15who want to see it continue, perhaps even scale up. They don't want Trump to take his foot off the gas.
04:22They want high tariffs. They view high tariffs as an end in and of itself and not just a means to an end.
04:28And we've seen Trump kind of flip flop back and forth between these two competing impetuses throughout
04:34the administration and where it's going to end up. I don't quite know. I do think it's notable that
04:41he's been particularly harsh on India. And the question as to why that is, is difficult to answer.
04:47There's a few different plausible explanations that we can get into if you'd like, but I'll
04:51I'll leave it there for now. All right. Daniel Block, thank you so much for joining us and explaining
04:57this. We'll come back to you maybe later on. What is it that Peter Navarro is really doing? But US
05:03is indeed rattled with India's response to Trump's sanctions and White House trade advisor has made
05:09that quite evident. Peter Navarro ramped up his criticism of India's Russian oil imports,
05:15accusing New Delhi of financing Russia's war in Ukraine and dubbing the conflict Modi's war.
05:21Hours after the 50% US tariff on India kicked in, Washington and its top eight seemed rattled by
05:36New Delhi's firm stance. In a bizarre and shocking remark, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro went
05:44as far as to call the Russia-Ukraine conflict Modi's war. India, however, has made its position crystal
05:52clear. New Delhi has repeatedly stated that its energy purchases from Russia are guided solely by
05:59national interest. India has also underscored that it will not bow to external pressure
06:05and will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy. Navarro's attack, however, is not new.
06:14He has consistently displayed an anti-India bias.
06:20From calling India the Kremlin's laundromat to labeling it the Maharaja of tariffs,
06:26the Trump aide has made a record of provocative remarks targeting New Delhi.
06:31On August 6th, Navarro defended President Trump's tariff hike on India by branding the country the
06:37Maharaja of tariffs. He went on to accuse India of directly fueling the Russia-Ukraine war.
06:44You start with the fact that India is the Maharaja of tariffs. It's the highest tariffs in the world,
06:51charging on American products, and it's got high non-tariff barriers, so we can't get our products in.
06:57So we send a lot of dollars overseas to India to buy their products in an unfair trade environment.
07:04India then uses American dollars to buy Russian oil. Russia then uses those American dollars that
07:12come from India to finance its armaments to kill Ukrainians. Weeks later, he described India as a
07:24laundromat for the Kremlin.
07:26You don't need the oil. It's a refining profiteering scheme. It's a laundromat for the Kremlin.
07:34That's the reality of that. So I love India. Look, Modi's a great leader. But please,
07:39please, India, look at what your role here is in the global economy and good here.
07:49His recent criticism over the 50% tariffs only highlights a long-standing pattern. Over the
07:56last five years, Navarro's own social media posts reveal a persistent bias calling India a notorious
08:03market in 2022, questioning Prime Minister Modi's credibility and again in 2023,
08:10claiming India for the Ukraine war. While Navarro's stance makes his anti-India position clear,
08:18New Delhi has consistently stood for peace, stability and a multipolar world.
08:25Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly emphasised that this is not an era of war.
08:29With Neha Kumari, Bureau Report, India Today.
08:37While President Donald Trump and his top aides continue to defend the steep tariffs on India,
08:42accusing New Delhi of refusing to bow under pressure, Democrats on the House of Foreign
08:47Affairs Committee in the United States of America have hit back, criticizing the move. They questioned
08:52why China and other nations importing far larger volumes of Russian oil have escaped penalties,
08:59while India alone has been singled out. In a post on X, the committee alleged that Trump's decision
09:05to focus solely on India with tariffs is hurting Americans and sabotaging the US-India relationship
09:12in the process. The committee questioned administration's intent, remarking,
09:17it's almost like it's not about Ukraine at all.
09:22And now joining me to discuss all this and more is Kyung Hoon Kim, head of India and South Asia Korea
09:28Institute for International Economic Policy. Thank you so much for joining us over here. Let's talk about
09:34Trump tariffs and how they've gone beyond economic warfare. What should India's response be to this?
09:40So I believe India should try to continue negotiations with the United States, but at the same time,
09:47prepare for the reality it already faces. There are two clear priorities. First, economic reform.
09:54If access to global markets becomes more difficult for companies in India, then the cost of doing
10:00business and reaching India's own domestic market must offset their loss. This makes reforms to improve
10:07the business environment more urgent than ever. The government now has both the incentive and the
10:13political backing to push ahead. Second, market diversification. India has already made progress
10:20by signing trade agreements with the UAE, Australia and the United Kingdom. The next step should include
10:26accelerating talks with the European Union, a huge market, and deepening engagement with fast-growing
10:33economies in the global south. Together, reform and market diversification can reduce
10:39India's honourability to tariffs. Right. King Hoon, how do you see Prime Minister Modi's Japan and China
10:46visit? Is this an opportunity for India to re-engage China and find a counterbalance to Trump's tariffs
10:52like you've been mentioning? Although these trips were scheduled before the US tariffs, the timing is highly
11:01significant. India and Japan already share a close strategic and economic partnership, and Japan
11:07views India as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific. The 15th India-Japan Summit and the Business Leaders Forum
11:15are expected to deliver headline-making announcements on investment, development partnerships, and major
11:20business collaborations. And following this, Prime Minister Modi will attend the Shanghai Corporation
11:27Organization Heads of State meeting in China. The visit could open up new economic opportunities.
11:34During China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent trip to India, issues such as direct flight connectivity,
11:41reopening border trade and facilitating investment were discussed. If concrete steps are taken in this
11:48direction, these measures would help India diversify its export market at a critical moment.
11:54You're saying that they're going to make headlines, but can Modi and Xi Jinping
11:59look past the border tensions here?
12:04And border issues are extremely sensitive for both India and China, and negotiations will remain slow as
12:11we've seen since the Gawan Valley clash. That said, the border issue is likely to be handled separately from
12:18economic engagement. Our progress on the boundary question will remain cautious and incremental.
12:25Economic dialogue can move forward in parallel, especially amid an unstable global trade environment.
12:31The point you're making there, Kyung Hoon Kim, thank you so much for joining us here on the network and sharing
12:37perspective on how important this visit of Prime Minister Modi to Japan and China really is.
12:43Now, US might try to create a narrative around the Russia-Ukraine war, but we tell you who owns the Ukraine war,
12:50and it is certainly not Modi, my piece on statecraft. You can watch a detailed analysis on India Today Global's YouTube channel.
13:04The Russia-Ukraine war is not Modi's war.
13:07But Washington now spins a new tale.
13:18That India bankrolled Putin with oil. The irony? It was America that shoved India into that role.
13:25Former U.S. Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti admitted it was U.S. policy to make India buy
13:30Russian oil at a capped price to stabilize global markets during the war.
13:36And yet later, during Trump administration, America turned around,
13:40slapped tariffs and blamed India for aiding Russia.
13:45Classic doublespeak. Classic hypocrisy.
13:48If this war was born out of Washington's policies, why is India suddenly made the villain?
13:54Hello and welcome. You're watching Statecraft with me, Geeta Mohan.
14:06Let's start with Eric Garcetti. The former U.S. Ambassador didn't whisper it.
14:10He said it openly. The United States of America wanted somebody to buy Russian oil. Why?
14:17Because they knew cutting Russia off entirely would send prices skyrocketing,
14:22crippling global economies and hurting American consumers at the pump, as also American allies.
14:29So Washington tapped India. They said, buy Russian oil, but do it under a price cap.
14:36Keep the oil flowing, but keep Russia's profits limited.
14:40But once the crisis stabilized and the political winds shifted, America changed its story.
14:47Governments changed in the United States of America from Biden to Trump. And suddenly,
14:52the same purchases that had been helpful were labeled harmful. Suddenly, India wasn't stabilizing
14:59the market. It was funding Putin's war. And what followed was Washington's favorite weapon – tariffs.
15:08Trump's administration hit India with punitive 50% tariffs on Indian goods. Think about that.
15:14The same America that begged India to buy oil was now punishing India for it.
15:19The hypocrisy isn't subtle. It's glaring. Washington got what it wanted,
15:24then turned India into a scapegoat to cover its own messy role in the war.
15:31India didn't push NATO into Ukraine's backyard. India didn't overthrow Yanukovych.
15:36India didn't ship weapons across the border. If NATO's promise was the spark and Washington's arms
15:42were the fuel, then the fire was already burning long before India bought a single barrel of oil from Russia.
15:49Donald Trump loves drama. And in 2025, India became his favorite punching bag.
15:55His trade advisor, Peter Navarro, has been particularly vicious.
15:59Navarro claimed India was getting in bed with authoritarians.
16:02He labeled discounted Russian oil as Modi's war. He accused Delhi of prolonging the conflict.
16:09And of course, he sneered at Indian tariffs because in Washington's world, protecting American workers is patriotic.
16:16But when India protects its own economy, it's arrogance.
16:20Washington turned Ukraine into a testing ground for its weapons industry.
16:25Billions in arms. Billions in sanctions. Billions in aid.
16:29That was more about prolonging the war than ending it.
16:32Then Trump arrived. And suddenly, America started talking peace.
16:37Trump convened summits with Putin. He pushed for a Zelensky-Putin meeting.
16:42He floated US security guarantees if a deal could be reached.
16:46He moved away from weapons first to dialogue first.
16:49Sound familiar? It should. Because it's exactly what Modi had been saying for years.
16:54Trump wasn't inventing peace diplomacy. He was borrowing a chapter straight out of India's playbook.
16:59So ask yourself, who looked like the responsible statesman here?
17:03The country shipping missiles by the truckload or the country urging diplomacy from day one?
17:09Let's be blunt. Who brought this war?
17:11Did Modi wake up one day and say, let's destabilize Europe? No.
17:16This war was born in Washington's corridors and NATO's boardrooms.
17:20America poked the bear, ignored the warnings and then acted surprised when the bear lashed out.
17:27Trump himself knows it. He himself has said it.
17:30That's why he isn't flooding Ukraine with weapons like Biden did.
17:34That's why he's sitting at the table with Putin.
17:38That's why he's borrowing India's diplomatic lines.
17:41So let's stop the theatre. This is not India's war.
17:44It's not Modi's war, certainly. It is America's war.
17:49Conceived, escalated and now dragged out for political convenience.
17:53Let's stop pretending. The Ukraine conflict was never India's war.
17:57India didn't spark NATO's promises, didn't arm Ukraine, didn't annex Crimea,
18:03didn't sanction Russia into a corner.
18:05America did all of that.
18:07And then, to cover its contradictions, it turned India into the fall guy.
18:12The truth is simple. Washington's war became the world's burden.
18:17But India refused to be dragged in. It stood firm, pursued peace and defended its own people.
18:23So the next time America points a finger at India, the answer is clear.
18:27Don't blame Delhi for a war born in Washington.
18:30This was never India's war. It was always America's.
18:33Kyiv was bombarded overnight by Russia's second biggest aerial attack since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
18:43with at least 18 people killed, including four children.
18:46Buildings belonging to the European Union and British Council were damaged in the strikes,
18:51causing both the EU and the United Kingdom to summon the top Russian diplomats in their capitals.
18:56Russia launched a massive overnight drone and missile assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv,
19:09killing dozens, including three children. More than 20 sites across the city were stuck.
19:16Ukrainian officials said nearly 600 drones and over 30 ballistic and cruise missiles were fired,
19:23making it one of the largest attacks on Kyiv this month.
19:26CCTV footage captured the moment the strikes hit the capital.
19:33The barrage forced residents to take shelter in metro stations.
19:39Emergency crews rushed to the strike site, searching the rubble of a destroyed apartment block
19:45and pulling survivors to safety. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy condemned the strike,
19:51stating that they showed Russia's answer to diplomacy.
19:55Global condemnation followed soon after the attack. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged
20:01that this bloodshed must end. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she was
20:08outraged by the deadly strikes on Kyiv, while French President Emmanuel Macron also strongly
20:16condemned Russia's attack.
20:22I'm outraged by the attack on Kyiv also hitting our EU offices. This was the deadliest drone and missile attack on the
20:28capital since July. And as you can see behind me on the screen, it was an attack also on our delegation. I just spoke with our deputy
20:41ambassador. And I'm relieved that none of our staff were harmed.
20:47Meanwhile, Kremlin insisted it still seeks peace talks on Ukraine.
20:51Russia remains interested in continuing the negotiation process in order to achieve
21:01our goals through political and diplomatic means.
21:04This was Russia's first major strike on Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin
21:13met US President Donald Trump in Alaska earlier this month to discuss the ending of the war.
21:19With Neha Kumari, Bureau Report, India Today.
21:23That's all in this edition of India Today Global. But before I go, here are visuals of floods that have
21:31submerged hundreds of villages across Pakistan's Punjab province. Catastrophic flooding in the
21:36Suffolk River and Chinabar rivers have triggered mass evacuations. On that note, goodbye, goodbye.
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