The strategic partnership between the United States and India is being significantly undermined by the Trump administration’s “confrontational” trade policies, a Democratic lawmaker said in the US Congress. At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the US-India Strategic Partnership, the viral image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharing a car with Russian President Vladimir Putin was used as stark evidence of the deteriorating partnership.
The Democratic Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove waved the picture, claiming it was not India, but the US who weakened the partnership and pushed New Delhi toward Moscow.
Tariffs and Coercion Accused of Undermining Trust
Kamager-Dove blamed Trump for undoing decades of bipartisan work on a number of issues, especially attacking his aggressive tariff regime slapped on India.
“Cutting Off Our Nose“: The Democrat said, “Trump’s policies towards India can only be described as cutting off our nose to spite our face, and this is doing real and lasting damage to the strategic trust and mutual understanding between our two countries.”
The Cost of Coercion: Gesturing to the Modi-Putin poster, she warned, “Being a coercive partner has a cost, and this poster is worth a thousand words.”
Tariff Burden: The points of friction are Trump’s 25% “Liberation Day tariffs,” added to another 25% levy on India’s imports of Russian oil—a cumulative 50% tariff burden. Kamlager-Dove noted, “The tariff rate on India is currently higher than the tariff rate on China.”
The Symbolic Modi-Putin Gesture
The photograph used as a warning shot was taken during President Putin’s recent two-day visit to Delhi. PM Modi personally received Putin at the airport, and the two leaders shared a car to the Prime Minister’s residence, a gesture seen by both nations as a sign of close personal rapport. They had last shared a car during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China.
Strategic Malpractice and H-1B Fees
Democrats also criticized policies extending beyond trade, arguing those damage people-to-people ties.
H-1B Visa Fee: Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visas—70% of which are held by Indians—was characterised as “a rebuke of the incredible contributions Indians have made” in the US.
Warnings of Loss: Kamlager-Dove gave a serious warning: “Unless he changes course, Trump will be the American president who lost India.”
Expert Testimony: Witnesses, who included Dhruva Jaishankar of ORF America, testified that the tariff fight threatens to detract from the pressing strategic imperatives of countering China and stabilising supply chains. “It would be strategic malpractice of the highest order to discard the trust we have built,” one witness said.
The Congressional hearing concluded that the tariff confrontation has become the most politically charged issue in the US-India relationship, carrying significant geopolitical consequences.
