President Donald Trump bemoaned India’s recent efforts to align themselves with China and Russia.
“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump also posted a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping that The Hill said was several years old.
The three leaders met earlier this week in Tianjin, China. They were joined at one point by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said he was certain the military parade at the summit carried a message.
“I thought it was very, very impressive,” Trump said. “But I understood the reason they were doing it. And they were hoping I was watching, and I was watching.”
The Trump administration had recently slapped tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil.
On Tuesday, Trump had said the U.S. gets “along with India very well,” while saying it was a “one-sided relationship,” according to Politico.
“He’s consistently talked about the tariff issue when it comes to India, but he’s certainly also talked about how he and Modi have worked together on many other issues,” a White House official said. “Nothing has really changed.”
Does the alliance between Russia, India, and China worry you?
One analyst felt differently.
“The relationship is really on shaky ground right now,” Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia in Trump’s first term, remarked.
“We’re at a DEFCON 1 on the U.S.-India relationship,” she said.
Another analyst said India’s embrace of Russia and China is designed to send a message to Trump.
“India used it to signal that it has options to recalibrate ties in response to economic shocks,” Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former ambassador to the United Nations, said.
“Some kind of communication between the two leaders is the only thing that’s going to get things back on track, in terms of figuring out what might be the mutual understanding on purchases of Russian oil and the related tariff and then getting back to the table on a reciprocal trade deal,” Mark Linscott, a former negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office during Trump’s first term, said.
“I just don’t see those being resolved without the two leaders communicating,” he added.
During the summit, Xi said, “We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism,” in what appeared to be a criticism of Trump’s tariffs, according to Reuters.
“Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” he said.
The summit in China attracted leaders from more than 20 non-Western nations.
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