Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Pakistan problem became his Trump problem after the 88-hour air war between India and Pakistan in May of this year. US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he personally forced the warring parties to quit fighting have put Mr Modi in an extremely difficult position, which he has dealt with largely by avoiding direct contact with the American leader.
The result is not just the collapse of a nearly complete trade deal and the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the US, but a global engagement problem, as Mr Modi appears to be avoiding international summits, such as the recent Asean conference in South Korea where he would encounter the American president and his embarrassing claims.
This is a sea change from Mr Trump’s first term, where the personal relationship between the two leaders was a driver of the deepening engagement between the two countries.
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