India found itself under a diplomatic siege at the United Nations this week, as US President Donald Trump simultaneously pushed two conflicting narratives: one painting himself as a Nobel-worthy peacemaker in an India-Pakistan crisis, and the other casting modern India as a “funder” of the war in Ukraine.
The first narrative involved Trump’s grand claim, delivered on the world’s most prestigious stage, that he had single-handedly “stopped a war” between the South Asian neighbors. This self-aggrandizing story, which India refutes, is central to his public campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize but comes at the cost of undermining India’s diplomatic credibility regarding ‘Operation Sindoor’.
The second narrative was far more damaging. In a sharp pivot, Trump accused India of bankrolling Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war,” he declared, a statement that places India on the wrong side of a major global conflict in the eyes of the West.
This dual-pronged attack creates a confusing and hostile environment for India. It is being asked to accept a revisionist history of its past actions while being condemned for its current policies. The pressure is immense, backed by tangible threats of more tariffs on top of the 50% already imposed by the Trump administration.
The Modi government is left to fend off attacks on its past and present, a difficult task when the accuser is the leader of a nation considered a key strategic partner. The speech encapsulates the unpredictable and challenging nature of dealing with the Trump administration, where praise and condemnation can be delivered in the same breath.
