Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly brushed off several attempts by Donald Trump to reach him on the phone as a trade fight between the countries, which has been triggered by the US president’s heavy-handed and unprecedented trade tariffs, spirals.
According to Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung magazine, Trump has tried four times in recent weeks to get Modi on the line, but the Indian head of state has declined to answer.
Neither Washington nor New Delhi has confirmed the account, and the magazine piece did not cite its sources either.
‘Trauma trigger Trump’
Describing the situation at hand, however, the report wrote, “It is said on the subcontinent that Narendra Modi suffers from a trauma trigger called Trump.”
The report landed just as the White House rolled out a fresh round of penalties, namely a new 25-percent tariff on Indian goods, on top of existing measures, pushing the overall tariff rate to as high as 50 percent.
The move, Washington said, was in direct response to India’s stepped-up purchases of Russian oil.
On August 24, Japan’s Nikkei Asia had released a similar story, quoting Indian diplomatic analysts who said Trump had recently made “several attempts” to call Modi.
They added that Modi had repeatedly rebuffed him, deepening Trump’s irritation.
On the ground, Indian exporters are bracing for immediate fallout of the drastic tariff spikes.
Orders from the US are expected to shrink sharply after the collapse of trade talks and confirmation of steep new duties.
The first 25-percent levy is already in force; another 25 percent will take effect on August 27, as detailed in a notice from the US Department of Homeland Security.
Trump has, meanwhile, kept up his attacks. Earlier this month, he told CNBC that India and Russia had “dead” economies.
Trump alleged that New Delhi and Moscow’s gravitation towards one another amounted to their “fueling the war machine,” trying to claim that the former’s contribution to the Russian economy would prolong the conflict in Ukraine.
“And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not happy,” he added.
The US president had announced the initial 25-precent increase late last month as punishment for “trade barriers” and New Delhi’s purchase of military and energy supplies from Russia.