Why is India in a state of shock over Trump’s attitude?

In the middle of all of Trump’s rhetoric about India, here is something worth remembering.

Donald Trump is not the first US President to seem to favour Pakistan over India.

 

We forget now that because Pakistan openly allied itself with America during the Cold War years, US foreign policy was often seen by India as pro-Pakistan and anti-Indian.

 

   Even when it mattered, America did not take India’s side. In 1965 Pakistan used American tanks (remember Patton tanks?) and aircraft (the mighty Sabre jet) against us in a multi sector invasion while the White House beamed.

 

   In 1971, the US openly backed Pakistan despite a global outcry over the genocide being conducted by the Pakistani army in what would become Bangladesh. At one stage President Richard Nixon moved the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal to intimidate India. The bias originated from Pakistan’s role in facilitating a deal between the US and China and also partly because Nixon did not like Indians or Indira Gandhi whom he privately abused.

 

   Much later during Bill Clinton’s first term Pakistan was preferred to India because Robin Raphel, the Assistant Secretary of State in charge of South Asia, was so blatantly pro Pakistan that, after she stepped down, the Americans themselves launched an investigation to see if she was a Pakistani asset.

 

   So while Donald Trump may be more outspoken than his predecessors and he may make foreign policy pronouncements on Truth Social and not through diplomatic channels, we have been here before. Yes, Trump has decided that he loves Pakistan, home to vast and mostly imaginary oil reserves, while India apparently runs a dead economy. But if you listen to the White House tapes that recorded conversations between Nixon and Henry Kissinger you will realise that not only did India not fit into the US’s foreign policy objectives in 1971, Nixon actually hated India and Indians. For all of Trump’s invective nothing he has said has plumbed those depths of hatred.

 

   So why is India in a state of shock over Trump’s attitude? Why are we so surprised? Surely, we have coped with an Islamabad-Washington romance before and can do it again for the three years when Trump will remain in office?

 

   There is only one reason why we are so upset: there is bitter disappointment so strong that it borders on a sense of betrayal on the part of India’s current rulers and their supporters.

 

   And why should we have expected more from Trump?

 

   Well because the larger Sangh and its supporters clasped him to their bosom and acted as though Trump was one of them. They threw absentee birthday parties for him, gave him a rapturous response when he visited India and prayed for him to be re-elected.

 

   The love for Trump was based on a single factor. When he was campaigning to be President (the first time around) Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the US.

 

"Worse still, there is an even greater sense of betrayal over the inability of the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump relationship to help India."

   For the Sangh Parivar and its supporters this was wonderful news: at last America had a top politician who spoke in a language they loved. If he was so anti Muslim then he must be a good guy, right?

 

   From this one statement flowed a river of love from India to America. The world needed Trump, the Sangh supporters believed, because he knew what Muslims were really like and had acted against them. During his first campaign Trump said on video “I love the Hindu”. This took the place of a wedding ring sealing the marriage between India’s right and Trump.

 

   Except that Trump has never been the most faithful of lovers. After he took office he rediscovered the Muslim world, going off to Saudi Arabia to do the sword dance with its leaders and the anti Muslim rhetoric faded.

 

   Still the Sangh faithful waited like loyal brides for his return to power. They were clearly not bright enough to see that Trump was never a one -issue President. Anti Muslim rhetoric had its place a decade ago. Now, it was less relevant as new targets emerged. In truth Trump and his Indian fan club had nothing in common.

 

   Unfortunately his Indian right wing fans never realised this. Instead they constructed in their imagination an alternative model of American politics where Hindus would run the show and India would benefit. Vivek Ramaswamy was a great Hindu hope and when Trump did not give him any major responsibilities his Indian fans shifted focus to JD Vance on the grounds that his wife was a Hindu. FBI Director Kash Patel is a Gujarati so that was another source of hope. So was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard who is not Indian but has Hindu beliefs.

 

   All of these people are Americans and owe their current prominence directly to Trump. Obviously they will act in what they see as America’s interests (not India’s) and will proudly back Trump.

 

    But the Hindu nationalist fantasy had imagined them as pillars of Hinduism in key positions who would act to create a mental Akhand Bharat in Washington DC.

 

   It is this constituency of Sangh Parivar supporters who now sound the most betrayed by Trump. They post angry messages on Twitter and call him names. They cannot believe that all of the influential American Hindus they venerated have not spoken up for India.

 

   Worse still, there is an even greater sense of betrayal over the inability of the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump relationship to help India. For years now, the BJP-supporting television media have been declaring that Modi and Trump are the two greatest leaders in the world, a Superman-Batman combination that will defeat India’s enemies.

 

   Clearly that hasn’t worked out so the same anchors are calling Trump names and attacking the US.

 

   Personally I don’t believe that the US-India relationship has deteriorated beyond repair. The two countries agree on much more than we disagree on. There are ways of handling Trump who is notoriously fickle even if our Foreign Ministry has been outplayed by the Pakistanis this year. There are still many ways out of this impasse and I imagine we will find them.

 

   But the lesson for Trump’s right wing Indian fans remains.

 

   Never find common cause with a foreign leader only because you imagine he shares your bigoted hatreds. Do not expect Hindus abroad to put your version of Hindu interests first. They will always put their own country first. (As they should.)

 

   And finally stop acting like fan boys for foreign leaders. Not only is it embarrassing but you are setting yourself up for disappointment.