Are those of us who were born around the time India got her Independence sentimental fools? Are the values our fathers imbibed during their exposure to the environment of our freedom struggle and transferred to us of no use today? Are the terms like self-respect, dignity, courage, sacrifice, defiance of a bully and fighting for the right cause which we learnt as teenagers and have cherished during our life time completely irrelevant in the present-day world?
As time passes and things change, it is not unusual for seniors to entertain such ideas. In the Modi era when the whole Idea of India and its norms are being put upside down, the question comes to haunt us in a big way. But the stance of newly-elected U.S. President Donald Trump and the developments in the aftermath of the Modi-Trump meeting are a little too much to digest.
Whatever the mandarins in the South Block may say, the fact is that from the Day One the attitude of President Trump towards India has been of neglect and contempt. Let us see it step by step:
- Chinese President and heads of several small countries are invited to the Presidential inauguration but our Prime Minister is not invited.
- It is said that our External Affairs Minister spends nine days trying to secure the invitation but does not succeed in it.
- As if to tease the Indian Government, industrialist Mukesh Ambani secures an invitation to the inaugural function at the recommendation of a corporate boss.
- On his arrival at the White House for his meeting with President Trump, Prime Minister Modi is received by a junior official while Trump himself had come out to receive the President of Ukraine.
- Almost during his talks with Prime Minister Modi, Trump deports illegally residing Indians in handcuffs and chains. One wonders why this could not be delayed by a few days and what was the need to choose a time that would cause embarrassment for our Prime Minister on return.
- In Modi’s presence Trump bitterly attacks and threatens BRICS.India is a promoter and a very important member of BRICS.
- Elon Musk comes to meet with our Prime Minister and senior Indian officials with his children and their nanny.This was belittling the status of our Prime Minister.
- No sooner Prime Minister Modi returns from his U.S. visit Trump announces that the USAID gave a huge sum to India for voter turn-out, indirectly suggesting that the BJP won the mandate because of U.S.
- He again threatens India with his tariff tool which he says would be applicable from coming April 2.
- Let us not forget that it is the same Trump who in his last term that forced and threatened India to export to the U.S. a drug which was in short supply during the Covid time.
The fact is that Trump is a bully who understands the language of power and not reason. After saying everything against China, he is seeking reconciliation with it. Canada has bravely stood up against it and now Trump’s attitude is softening against his northern neighbour. Many countries in Europe and West Asia are showing their displeasure against his policies and he is showing signs of buckling under pressure.
Opposition to Trump’s economic policies and political approach has already begun across the globe. Within 100 days of his election, opposition to him started in his own county. The famous Urdu poet Allama Iqbal has said that a living nation does not wait for a hundred years, and we are witnessing the same about the American society today.
Trump is an odd figure in the international arena. He has no understanding of the history that has made America the richest and most powerful country in the modern era and also seems to be unaware of the intricacies of international relations and the decorum of diplomatic dialogues. A president who has come from the world of real estate business into politics, believes that money is everything, and if you have money, you can do anything. Since America has money, Trump believes that every right or wrong stance of America under him should be accepted by the world.
The way Trump engaged in conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky and treated him at the White House is unprecedented in the annals of international relations.
My generation saw Prime Ministers like Lal Bahadur Shastri and Mrs. Indira Gandhi charting an independent course of action in defiance of the wishes of mighty U.S. Presidents like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. And mind they did it at a time when India was much less developed and much more militarily and financially weak than what it is today. These Indian leaders knew as many others in the world know that beyond money, military might and rhetoric American leaders are bullies and paper tigers. Communist China challenged them and despite several warnings over two decades they could not dare to act against China, North Vietnam threw them out of Vietnam after a bitter struggle and North Korea and Iran have always defied them. Therefore, we a mighty big country being ruled by the biggest political party in the world and having the third largest economy in the world has no reason to act in the manner we are doing in relation as Donald Trump.
Whether the mindset of my generation or that of the present one, Trump’s style and attitude tells us that we must ignore economic benefits from financial deals with the Trump Administration, if any, and must stand on our self-respect befitting a big and great country like India.
Let us tell this person either to behave or get lost. Our great nation and its culture lived and thrived for centuries even when there was no U.S. and there is no reason why we cannot live without the U.S. benevolence now.