On an stifling afternoon next to the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood next to the Maldivian president Mohamed Muizzu for the island of the islandth birthday.
It was not only ceremonial, however. Three agreements and four understanding memoranda were signed with a country which had once been considered a step on the orbit of China.
A few days earlier and in a different place on a diplomatic scale, Modi had signed a new trade agreement with the former British colonial power – calling it “a plan for our shared prosperity”.
But while the most populous nation in the world forges a new world diplomatic gaming book, a country seems visibly left aside and with a trade agreement that is always suspended: the United States.
“We want to engage with the world, including the West, in equal terms,” said Sanjeev Sanyal, key member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Indian Prime Minister Nowsweek. “We understand that Western countries have their interests, but we also have ours. So we are going to talk about our interests. This does not mean that we will not be ready to engage or make reasonable compromises.”
Photo by Mohamed Afrah / AFP
A spokesperson for the US State Department described India as “a strategic partner with which we engage in complete and frank dialogue, including on his relationship with Russia and the problematic actions of China”.
“We deeply appreciate our relations with Indo-Pacific Nations colleagues like India and Maldives. We will continue to work with our partners to advance American interests by ensuring that the region remains free and open, and continues to become more connected, prosperous, secure and resilient,” said the spokesperson.
White House
In a sign of the importance of India for the American president Donald TrumpThe administration, he was a first visitor to the White House during the second term Trump.
But the optics of the recent diplomatic activity in India is difficult to ignore. The diplomatic calendar of India this month can be read as a cheat sheet of the G20: France, Water, Egypt, Iran, Russia-now Great Britain and the Maldives.
And in a decision that would have been unthinkable even a year ago, India resumed to offer tourist visas for Chinese citizens, ending a freezing of five years after Mortel clashes in a border area contested in 2020.
“China and India are expected to join a good neighborhood and friendship,” said Chinese Foreign Affairs Wang Yi at a July 15 meeting with the Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. “China is ready to work with India to promote sustainable, healthy and regular development,” he added.
These movements reflect the role of deepening India as a world swing power, geopolitical analysts said.
“Power – not justice, not equity, not laws, rules or ethics – but raw, flawless, raw and disarticulated power has become the main determinant of international relations,” said Gautam Chikermane, vice -president of the observer Research Foundation Nowsweek. “The threats have become the new vocabulary, the whims are the new rules. Each country must have plan B and plan C in place. India is already doing so.”
Photo of Kin Cheung / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
Treat monuments with Great Britain
The historic agreement of India with the United Kingdom concerns as much geopolitics as on goods and services. It was not precipitated. Negotiations began in May 2022, took three years and involved difficult domestic balancing acts – protective farmers, small businesses and service sectors on both sides.
“It is not easy to sign a trade agreement like this,” said a senior Indian trade official involved in the agreement. “But both sides were patient. We were not desperate, and we did not take ultimatums.”
“This agreement is more than trade,” said the deputy for the British opposition Bob Blackman opposition Nowsweek. “It reflects a change in the way in which the two nations perceive power and partnership. No longer limiting itself to the nostalgia of the Commonwealth, the British -Indian relationship is in blackberries – based on democratic resilience and pragmatic alignment.”
On the other hand, there is Still no trade agreement with the United States Despite a certain optimism expressed by President Trump and India.
“The United States is very close to a trade agreement with India … I think we will soon,” said Trump in a recent press briefing. However, almost in the same breath, he reiterated his frustration in the face of India’s commercial position, immigration policies and neutrality on Russia.
“The era of the construction of factories in China and the hiring of workers in India is over,” added Trump – format that has left New Delhi to look with a suspicious eye.
Trump has also threatened secondary prices up to 100% on countries that import Russian oil – a clear warning to India, which continues to buy reduced energies from Moscow in what it considers vital economic coverage, and not geopolitical approval.
“India’s successful trade agreement with the United Kingdom shows that it has global commercial options and that it is not sufficiently desperate for a trade agreement with the United States to open its agricultural sector,” said Lisa Curtis, director of the Center for a New American Security in Newsweek. “The Trump administration would be wise to make concessions for India in the interest of the wider strategic partnership.”
“One of the greatest achievements of the foreign policy of the first Trump administration was to raise the American-Indian strategic partnership,” continued Curtis. “It would be a mistake for the second Trump administration to sacrifice these gains.”
