An independent foreign policy analyst has sharply criticised former US President Donald Trump’s approach to India, warning that escalating trade disputes could jeopardise what he described as “the most crucial partnership of the 21st century.”
Edward Price, adjunct professor at New York University, told ANI that Trump’s repeated tariff threats against India reveal “a fundamental misunderstanding of both economics and statecraft.”
“I used to think Trump had a poor understanding of economics and statecraft. I now realise that was wrong. He has no understanding at all,” Price said.
His remarks came after Trump complained about India’s tariff regime while simultaneously insisting that Washington and New Delhi “get along very well.”
Risk of Strategic Drift
Price argued that India’s tariffs are in line with its developing-economy status, noting that post-war trade rules allow such flexibility. But he cautioned that Trump’s confrontational stance risks pushing India closer to China and Russia - the very scenario the US has long sought to prevent.
Recent images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have already fuelled speculation of a counterweight to US influence.
“Modi is smart. Modi is playing his cards. He’s reminding the US that he has options,” Price said, adding that India’s non-alignment tradition remains central to its diplomacy.
Trump’s Business Interests Under Scrutiny
The analyst also touched on concerns raised by former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that Trump’s personal financial ventures - including controversial cryptocurrency projects - could shape policy.
While calling Sullivan a “partisan actor,” Price acknowledged that such ventures marked “a clear departure from presidential norms.”
He dismissed Trump ally Peter Navarro’s claim that the Ukraine war was “Modi’s war” as “very strange,” stressing: “It is Putin’s war, not Modi’s.”
A Defining Choice for the 21st Century
Highlighting India’s role in great-power politics, Price remarked: “If India chooses the US over China - or even opts for neutrality - that decision will shape the outcome of 21st-century power competition.”
To mend ties, he urged Washington to scrap the threatened 50% tariffs and issue a formal apology.
“I can’t understand why, in a confrontation with China and a war with Russia, the US president would slap 50% tariffs on India,” he concluded.
The assessment underscores rising unease among policy experts that Washington’s trade tactics may strain strategic cooperation with the world’s largest democracy.