For India, President Trump’s popping up Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir to the level of a Head of Government was the last straw on the camel’s back.
By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo June 21 – With the India-US “strategic partnership” developing deep cracks and US President Donald Trump propping up Pakistan quite openly, India is warming up to China, although China is its “strategic rival” in South Asia.
To India’s chagrin, President Trump repeatedly claimed that it was he who brought about a ceasefire in the four-day India-Pakistan war in May to prevent a nuclear war. Trump also said that he used trade deals to entice the warring neighbours to come to the negotiating table and discuss Kashmir.
These claims were welcomed by Pakistan, but India saw them as knocking the bottom out its decades-long policy of acting independently in foreign affairs and setting issues with Pakistan only bilaterally.
India officially refuted Trump’s claims quickly. But Trump repeated them 15 times, giving credence to the Indian opposition’s charge that Modi had sharply deviated from India’s cherished policies and “surrendered” to Trump. Modi was unfavourably compared with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who refused to accede to President Nixon’s demand that she stop supporting the Bangladesh liberation struggle.
Pakistan, which India had dubbed a “habitual terror sponsor”, also got at this time, substantial aid from Western institutions like IMF, World Bank and the ADB in the teeth of India’s opposition. Pakistan got $2.4 billion from IMF (disbursed), $800 million from ADB (approved); and $20 billion from World Bank (under discussion).
Modi toughened his stand vis-à-vis Pakistan and the US. He declared that the May military operation against Pakistan had not been called off, but only suspended. Modi said that India would not submit to nuclear blackmail and that another terrorist attack from Pakistan would be met with telling effect. New Delhi also clarified that there would be no talks with Pakistan until it stops sponsoring terrorism.
Meanwhile, Trump doggedly kept up his chant on the issue. Needling India further, he invited Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for lunch at the White House, leaving the G7 summit in Canada early. Trump said he was “honoured” to meet Munir and that they had discussed Iran, which he said Munir knew better than most. Trump thanked Munir for ending the war with India while crediting Modi also.
More importantly, Trump and Munir discussed trade, economic development, rare earths, minerals and cryptocurrency during the two-hour meeting. By doing so, Trump had broken protocol. Munir was only the head of the Pakistan army. He had no political position. But Trump discussed with Munir, all matters of State, including economic development projects.
By doing so, the US President at once, raised the profile of the Pakistan army chief vis-à-vis Modi and also the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. For Modi, the emerging Trump-Munir equation was the last straw on the camel’s back.
During a phone conversation with Modi, who was then at the G7 summit, Trump extended an invitation to Modi to drop by in Washington for a discussion. But the Indian Prime Minister not only excused himself but gave Trump an earful on India’s policies, totally rejecting Trump’s contentions on the ceasefire and US mediation on Kashmir.
In contrast to Modi’s obduracy, Field Marshal Asim Munir, not only wholeheartedly endorsed Trump’s claims but declared that Trump should get the Nobel Prize for averting an Indo-Pak nuclear war.
Trade Talks
Against this background, it is unlikely that the India-US trade deal will be concluded anytime soon, at any rate not by July 9, the deadline set by Trump. Trump is very keen on reducing US trade deficit with India which was $45.7 billion in goods trade in 2024.
US has been wanting India to buy US agricultural products and the expensive 5th.gneration F35 fighter jets. But India is wary about harming its farmers, a key political constituency. India also wants US to transfer high-end defence technology but the US is cagey. Adding to these challenges is the political gulf which is widening by the day.
While illegal immigrants are a major problem in the US and Indians number about 400,000, Trump’s inhuman treatment of these economic migrants shocked Indians. Military plane loads of them were shackled and sent to India.
Warming Up to China
Sensing that the honeymoon with the US is fraying, India started mending fences with its estranged northern neighbour, China. China the industrial giant, offered prospects of fruitful economic engagement despite tensions on the border.
In January 2025, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri paid a two-day visit to Beijing and met Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the ruling Communist Party, which sets the tone for China’s foreign policy.
“We welcome Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s travel to China for the meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between China and India,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ms.Mao Ning said. Mao said that in October 2024, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached important common understandings on improving and growing bilateral relations on the side lines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. Recently, both sides have acted to earnestly implement these common understandings, she added.
Indian Special Representative (SR) for border talks Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi had met in December 2024. Ms. Mao said that during talks, both sides agreed to improve and strengthen the interactions and resume institutional dialogues as well as exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including working on bringing the China-India relations back on track with sound and steady growth at an early date.
On June 12 and 13 Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong was in New Delhi meeting Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. India appreciated China’s cooperation in resuming the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, a pilgrimage of deep cultural and religious significance to Hindus.
The two countries discussed the outcomes of the April 2025 Expert Level Mechanism meeting on transboundary rivers, with India expressing hope for progress on the resumption of hydrological data sharing and other cooperative measures.
Both parties agreed to expedite the resumption of direct air services, with India expressing hope for an early conclusion of an updated Air Services Agreement. Visa facilitation, as well as increased exchanges between media and think tanks, were identified as priorities to foster greater people-to-people contact.
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, India and China positively assessed planned commemorative activities and agreed to facilitate their implementation.
Amid these diplomatic efforts, India raised concerns regarding the predictability of rare earth metal supplies, which are crucial for industries such as the auto sector. The Chinese government’s recent export controls on certain rare earth items had impacted Indian industries. Discussions are expected to take place with Chinese authorities in both Delhi and Beijing to address these concerns.
Adani’s Foray into China
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who is close to Prime Minister Modi, visited China, and met the solar power giant Jinko Solar and the industrial powerhouse Broad Group. Adani inspected cutting-edge manufacturing lines and thermal-resistant storage systems suited for India’s extreme climates.
China has been India’s top source for solar components. In 2023-24, imports from China accounted for over 90% of India’s solar cell imports. This now declined to 56% for solar cells and 65% for solar modules, still substantial.
The Indian pharmaceuticals industry is the third-largest in the world. But China caters to about 70% of India’s pharmaceutical requirements including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). APIs that are required to produce finished drugs.
According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), at the moment between 15% and 20% of the parts that make up an Indian phone are made in India.
India has a huge trade deficit of nearly $100 billion with China and is keen reducing the gap by increasing industrial production with Chinese investments.
In July 2024, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitjaraman backed her economic adviser’s V.Anantha Nageswaran’s suggestion to allow more Chinese investment in the country, after flows were disrupted by New Delhi’s increasingly strained ties with Beijing since a brutal border clash in 2020.
Anantha Nageswaran has said that India should focus on Foreign Direct Investments from China to boost India’s exports to the US and other western countries and also to help keep India’s growing trade deficit with China in check.
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