- 3 months ago
In this episode of Newstrack, the focus is on the escalating tensions between the Trump administration and New Delhi.
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00:00Trump aide says Russia's war is Modi's war.
00:13Tariff bluff fails, Trump's Sarkar rattled.
00:22Trump bomb fizzles, Modi-nomics stands tall.
00:31Second biggest economy in Bharat's sight.
00:40India powering ahead full steam.
00:47Trump tariff bomb, that is our top focus on news track.
00:51Good evening, this is the news track and we are starting the bulletin with a piece of breaking news that is coming in now.
01:04And this is what RSS Supreme Mohan Bhagwat has said on the question of should Indian leaders retire at the age of 75 years.
01:14Mohan Bhagwat has said, and I quote him, in Sangh we are given a job whether we want it or not.
01:21If I am 80 years old and Sangh says go and run a shaka, I will have to do it.
01:27We do whatever the Sangh tells us to do.
01:29So in many ways this is almost settling that 75 years debate which was ongoing.
01:36There was another question that was asked to the RSS chief in this three day event which was happening in Vigyan Bhavan in the national capital.
01:43On that question that was asked about the role that RSS has to play and why is there a delay in picking up the new BJP president.
01:54Mohan Bhagwat said that everyone says that the Sangh decides everything.
01:57That's not true.
01:58Just like I'm an expert in Sangh, they have been running states.
02:03This is essentially referring to the BJP, that they are the political masters.
02:08They run their party.
02:10The RSS is an ideologue.
02:14It's a fountainhead, of course.
02:16And then he went on to say that if we were the ones deciding, would it take this long?
02:22Again, an interesting headline there coming in from Mohan Bhagwat.
02:26Let's listen in to these soundbites and then I will shift focus to the tariff issue.
02:33I never said that I will retire or someone should retire.
02:42In Sangh, we swam sevaks.
02:46We are given a job.
02:48Whether we want it or not.
02:53So, if I am 80 years old and Sangh will tell me, go, run a shakha, I will have to go.
03:00We do whatever Sangh tells us.
03:03We don't say, I will do this, I want this, I want that.
03:08No, that is not allowed.
03:10We are not there for it because we don't want to accomplish anything.
03:13This is not for retirement of anybody or myself.
03:18We are ready to retire anytime in the life.
03:22And we are ready to work as long as Sangha wants us to work.
03:26That is the thing.
03:27You know, one of the people who are 50 years old is the wrong thing.
03:30It is not possible.
03:31It is possible.
03:32It is possible.
03:33Because we have been working in the past few days.
03:36I am working on a shakha for so many years.
03:37Because I am going to work for a long time for a long time, so if someone gives me a job, I am an expert.
03:51But he is running the rules of various courses, so he is an expert about the rules.
03:58My expertise is he knows, I know his expertise.
04:04So in this situation, he is able to give a job.
04:09He is able to give a job, because people also learn to see.
04:14However, the decision is in that field, in this field we are ours.
04:22That's why we don't do it.
04:27We are in an advisory role, we do not decide the BJP president is what Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Supremo has said.
04:37We are in an advisory role, we do not decide the BJP president is what Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Supremo has said.
04:50Aishwarya Paliwal was there at the RSS event for all these three days.
04:56Multiple headlines, Aishwarya, coming in today.
04:59But I would say that the point that has been made in the context of 75-year age, retirement age, that debate seems to be settled now.
05:09And also that RSS has no role, they can at best advise BJP that they should announce their BJP president, but they have limited role in it.
05:24Well, you know, Maria, let me tell you, all of us, all of us who were sitting there, we were all waiting for this question to be answered.
05:31Because let me tell you what had happened. Over the past two days, we all were given a piece of paper.
05:35We had to write the question that we wanted from our name, the address and the organization that we were from.
05:41So all of us knew that these were the questions that were being asked.
05:45And let me tell you, one thing was very, very clear. Over the past 48 hours, we were told that each and every question will be answered.
05:51So every one of us was very keenly looking at the 75-year thing, because, you know, you would have also heard it, Maria.
05:57A lot of people now have started speaking about the fact that Mohan Bhagwat is about to step down.
06:01And so is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both of them are almost 75 years old.
06:06So this debate, Maria, let me tell you, in that one go, very, very clearly, you know, with a little bit of a smile on his face,
06:12Mohan Bhagwat saying that no, he never asked anyone to resign, nor will he be resigned.
06:18Yes. And in the context of the BJP president, he says,
06:23Agar merepe rehta, toh mein pehle hi tahe karchuka hota.
06:27And itna delay nahi hota.
06:29And let me tell you, Maria, that was something that, you know, had everyone, all of us who were present there.
06:36It was just a burst of laughter because the way he said it, that had it been upon us.
06:41And that's what a lot of people are saying, that we are the ones who are deciding it.
06:44We would not have taken so long.
06:46We have told them that do whatever you want, you can take your own time.
06:50All right, Ashwarya.
06:51I appreciate your time.
06:52Thank you for joining us.
06:54Shifting focus to our top story right now.
06:5724 hours ago, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant described the U.S.-India relationship as complicated,
07:05but expressed optimism, saying that at the end of the day, we will come together.
07:10This sentiment was echoed by India.
07:12Top government sources had told India today that channel of communication with Washington remain open,
07:19with both sides sending positive signals despite ongoing concerns.
07:24However, just a day later, Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, escalated his attack on New Delhi.
07:31Navarro accused India of indirectly funding Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing discounted Russian crude oil,
07:40even branding the conflict as Modi war.
07:44He went further to suggest that India could secure a 25 percent reduction in U.S. tariffs if it stopped importing Russian oil.
07:52But Navarro's criticism has not got unchallenged.
07:56In fact, the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed the Trump administration's approach,
08:01arguing that instead of targeting China or other larger buyers of Russian oil,
08:08Washington is unfairly singling out India,
08:13undermining both American consumers and the longstanding U.S.-India partnership.
08:18Meanwhile, as the tariff war unfolds, the long-term economic outlook paints a different picture.
08:25A report by Ernst & Young projects that India will overtake most global peers
08:30to become the world's second largest economy in purchasing power parity terms by 2038,
08:38with its GDP expected to reach $34 trillion.
08:43Who really is in control of Washington right now?
08:47And why is Washington sending mixed signals?
08:50Let me take that question to all the guests who are joining me tonight.
08:53Puneet Aluwalia is joining us from Washington, D.C.
08:57John Rosamondo is a geopolitical and national security strategist joining me from Washington.
09:03We have Ajay Jain Bhutoria. He is Deputy National Finance Chair of Democratic Party.
09:10He is joining me from Washington.
09:12And Alexander Slater is joining us as well. He is a geopolitical expert on national security issues.
09:18Puneet Aluwalia, why is Washington on one day they are saying that they are looking for some kind of optimistic solution,
09:28another day, another threat, another provocative statement?
09:32Well, first thing is there's no threat. We are very straightforward.
09:36President Trump has a clear goal in America first.
09:40Peter Navarro, who is one of his confidants, I think he's a patriot,
09:43and who also loves India, respects President Modi as a great leader.
09:49And what he's saying is if you want to stand with democracies,
09:53if you want to stand with free enterprise system, and you've got to be with us.
09:58And that's the reason you can immediately take away 25% tariffs.
10:02At the same time, we are very clear in finding a way to mitigate this war.
10:06Isn't that a threat?
10:07Puneet, isn't that a threat?
10:08Well, the reason is, you see, you can take the relationship anytime we make a best friend.
10:12And then if we say something which is fair and balanced trade, oh, you are not friends anymore.
10:17Stop being flaky.
10:18Find a way to mitigate this issue.
10:21In fact, on August 6th, I said very clearly that this issue can go down very quickly if we can find a way to stop the war.
10:30Many would say, Puneet, that there is a great degree of doublespeak here with regards to Russian oil.
10:39No, I disagree.
10:40President Trump sees Prime Minister Modi as his friend.
10:43So does Peter Navarro.
10:45If you see his entire interview, he says Modi is a great leader.
10:51India is a great nation, a great partner.
10:53So when you have high expectations from a democratic partner, which is India, you expect more from them.
10:58You don't expect something from autocratic nations, which is China and Russia.
11:02India has shown them to be singled out.
11:05You know, Puneet, you also don't speak to friends the way it is being spoken this way.
11:10Ajay, a quick response from you.
11:12And particularly, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in fact, has slammed Trump administration's approach.
11:18They are of the opinion that it's the singling of India is essentially unfair in nature.
11:25Of course.
11:26I mean, Trump administration 2.0 has singleheadedly damaged the most important relationship between U.S. and India.
11:33The relationship which was built in the last 25 years with the hard work from Clinton administration to Bush administration to Obama, Biden administration.
11:42This has been completely destroyed and the trust has been lost between the two countries.
11:46That doesn't mean that there's no point to, you know, come back and repair this relationship, but it will take a longer time.
11:53U.S. trying to play double standards on not going easy on China, while China is one of the largest buyers of Russian oil, and going so harsh on India.
12:03They have played, they have exhausted all their cards with 50 percent tariff already placed.
12:08Yesterday, Pete Navarro was seen like pleading to India, at least come back and listen to us.
12:13I mean, which was seen that they have lost their, exhausted all their cards.
12:18The only last card Trump administration can now play is putting sanction, as they put sanction on an enemy state in Russia, which would be the biggest mistake they can make in this administration.
12:28So that's, I don't think that they will go too far.
12:31Now, they will try to repair this damage, which they have been done.
12:34And what happens, domestic implication, that almost 22 to 5 percent Indian Americans who had voted shifted from 2024, 2020 to 24 to Trump administration.
12:44They will shift back to Democrats in the midterm election, and they are going to punish the Republicans for what they have done, how they have insulted India, how they have hyphenated India with Pakistan, how they have treated India in par with other enemy countries.
12:59And this is not acceptable.
13:01Scott Besant or Pete Navarro, they are running the policy on social media.
13:09Yes.
13:10The policies are not worked on social media.
13:11Absolutely.
13:12I mean, then, then John, the question is, who should India speak to?
13:17On one hand, the indication that comes from the government of India here is that the channel of communication between New Delhi and Washington is open.
13:25This is coming, this is coming on a day, this is coming on a day that US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant sends a positive signal also.
13:34And then in 24 hours, everything takes a deep dive again.
13:38Everything starts going south.
13:39Well, personally, I think that Prime Minister Modi should pick up the phone and call Donald Trump directly because President Trump prefers to deal with peer global leaders as opposed to down below.
13:55I mean, if you go back, you know, follow Trump's, you know, rhetorical strategy going back to the 1980s, he'll say something inflammatory then back down as a way of trying to get some sort of leverage.
14:08I think that, you know, what Peter Navarro said about Modi's war is ill-advised and I'm sad to hear it.
14:15But I think that, you know, there needs to be some way of getting India to, you know, be involved with pressuring Vladimir Putin to back down and also having more of a talk about allowing more American goods into the Indian market, which I think is what Donald Trump wants.
14:35But, but John, the question here is that how can there be an engagement at the top when you have one side, which is Donald Trump taking repeatedly to truth social, speaking about it so publicly, not once, but multiple times in the context of the Indian economy?
14:56He has gone to the extent of saying that Indian economy is a dead economy, which is far from truth.
15:01Well, of course it is.
15:03I mean, it's hyper, hyperbole.
15:05But I think the thing is, is that, you know, Prime Minister Modi needs to develop a thick skin and deal with Trump directly as opposed to, you know, not talking.
15:20Because that's how President Trump gathers and learn, you know, some of the strategies that other countries have used in terms of using President Trump's ego as a tool to get him to do what they want.
15:34So I think that, you know, ignore what Trump is saying and think about the best way to move Trump in the direction you want him to.
15:47Okay, Alexander, what really is the way out of this?
15:50Because there is a huge trust deficit, although the channel of communication is open, because earlier the indication was that there is total impasse, that the negotiators who were expected to come to New Delhi around this time, they did not come.
16:06So can there be a trade deal?
16:09The one sense that we got from New Delhi was that there's no question of it.
16:14Now the sense is that the talks are going on, that there are concerns on both sides.
16:18But who is talking to whom?
16:20Mario, thanks for the question and thanks for having me here.
16:25It's good to be part of the discussion.
16:27I think we have to zoom out a little bit here.
16:30It's clearly in the interest of both India and the United States for the situation that we're in right now to change, for there to be a trade deal between the two countries.
16:40If you go back three weeks ago or even maybe a month ago, all reports and suggestions are they were quite close, that there was an agreement or at least an outline of an agreement that would allow them to get to an agreement later this year.
16:54I think both sides also see that their long term strategic and security interests lie together.
17:01I don't think that the recent rapprochement between China and India is one that is durable.
17:07The changes that have recently happened were in the works for a long time and just so happened to be taking place right now.
17:15So the way out of this, I think, is for India and the United States at the staff level, as it were, to begin consultations or to continue consultations.
17:26It sounds like Scott Besant is an advocate for India.
17:29It sounds like behind the scenes so is Howard Lutnick.
17:32These are and even Jameson Greer, who the USTR.
17:36And so these are folks who I think would be good interlocutors.
17:39I don't think I still think that John's suggestion about leader level communications is a very good one.
17:45The challenge there is that the way that these two leaders communicate and the nature of the constituencies now makes that very difficult.
17:53I think John's also right that President Trump's social media posts are really more signaling things.
17:59They're not meant to be substantive or true.
18:02They're meant to designate his views on are you with me or against me at that moment in time.
18:07Just look at Marco Rubio, his secretary of state and national security adviser.
18:10He was very insulting to Marco Rubio when he was a senator running against him in 2016 for the Republican nomination.
18:19Now he's part of his cabinet.
18:21But the challenge for Prime Minister Modi is that these are really serious allegations that President Trump has put on social media that go to the heart of Prime Minister Modi's governing theory or argument.
18:35And indeed his stewardship of the Indian economy has helped make India the fastest growing large economy in the world.
18:43Yes. And Alexander, that exactly is my point here.
18:47Here is Donald Trump making the most outlandish claims provocative, outrageous, but it's not stopping at only the president.
18:59You say that President Trump tends to, you know, you say that President Trump tends to, you know, be very, very mercurial and he also deals with his staff in a different way.
19:09But there are members within his administration like Peter Navarro saying that this is Modi's war.
19:15He that is getting reflected in the entire administration.
19:19It's not just stopping at Donald Trump.
19:23I don't think that the characterization of the war as Modi's war is one that makes a lot of sense.
19:31And I think that if you look at the quote from Navarri says, in part, it's Modi's war.
19:37My view is that Donald, pardon me, Vladimir Putin executed the invasion of Ukraine.
19:43It's his war.
19:44And we're all dealing with the consequences, both India and the United States.
19:48I think Prime Minister Modi has been clear since 2022 that this is not an era of war.
19:52He said that repeatedly.
19:53It starts from Samarkand.
19:55And then it is reflected multiple times in the G20 summit.
20:00You know, the Bali summit.
20:02And then it's reiterated in the New Delhi summit.
20:04It's part of the leader's declaration where Prime Minister had famously said that this is not an era of war.
20:10I agree.
20:11At the same time, you know, when India's purchases from Russian oil go from basically zero before the conflict
20:18to significantly higher now three years after the invasion,
20:25you know, it begs the question is that are those purchases supporting what Russia is doing
20:31or giving it fuel to execute its attacks on Ukraine, which, you know, seems to be ongoing and escalating.
20:39I mean, yesterday there were some massive attacks in Kyiv where many people died.
20:43This is after Prime Minister President Trump and Vladimir Putin met to try and seek a ceasefire.
20:50And so, you know, we're in a difficult situation.
20:53So, could there be a ceasefire now between U.S. and India?
20:58There has to be a climb down, certainly, from this position that has been taken by United States,
21:04Puneet Alualia, because as far as the Indian response is concerned, it's measured.
21:09There is, that India is communicating largely through the External Affairs Ministry.
21:13And it's putting across its point, it's not provoking, you know, United States the way U.S. is doing.
21:19Faro, it's not very difficult.
21:21As Peter Navarro said, the day India decides to fund President Putin's war in Ukraine,
21:28which is killing innocent people and also putting the entire Europe at risk and a possibility of World War III,
21:35that's what President Trump is trying to de-escalate.
21:38He's very much in control, and his team is very much in control.
21:41I think once Prime Minister Modi wants to pick up the phone and say, let's de-escalate, this will be done,
21:46because they both have great dynamics.
21:48It's very simple.
21:49Stop buying the oil, refining the oil for Russians with the Russians, and this all goes away.
21:54And we start looking and building through the people to find the finer points of doing business with India.
22:01I feel there's a strong possibility that can be done, because there, as one of the gentlemen said,
22:06there are a lot of supporters of India, including the diaspora, including the leadership in the Republican Party,
22:11along with President Trump's cabinet.
22:14Use that to the advantage.
22:16Ajay, 30 seconds to you, and let's wrap up this discussion.
22:20Yeah, what I would say is that the war between Russia and Ukraine has to be ended by Ukraine and Russia.
22:29And Trump said that in the first two weeks he will end the war.
22:33He failed.
22:34Yes.
22:35And now he's trying to pass on his failure to India or to other countries.
22:40And this failure is also coming in his domestic politics.
22:43And he's failing.
22:44I mean, he's failing.
22:45He's literally failed to stop the war.
22:47Even he brought Putin and Ukraine in the US and all the European allies, and they have failed to reach it.
22:52Now his administration is trying to shift.
22:54Oh, because the war is continuing because of India's buying oil.
22:57All right.
22:58Sunita Alwalia, John Rosamundo, Ajay Jain, and Alexander Slater, I appreciate your time.
23:04Thank you so much.
23:05All eyes will now be on that crucial summit which is going to take place in China,
23:11when a possible bilateral can happen between Prime Minister Modi and Xi Jinping,
23:17Prime Minister Modi and Vladimir Putin.
23:20A photo opportunity, perhaps, which will be watched very, very closely by Washington.
23:25That's all from me on this edition of Newstrap.
23:27Thanks so much for watching.
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