Video Explainer: How the Trump Administration’s Actions Threaten the U.S.-India Partnership

President Donald Trump’s recent policies of a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, claiming credit for achieving a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and a controversial meeting with the Pakistani army chief in the Oval Office are not the typical Trump-style bullying elsewhere that could be repaired with lowering tariff rates. When done to India, it cuts deeper and serves to fundamentally break trust built over 30 years while playing into India’s deepest historic reservations about the relationship: Don’t get in too deep with the Americans because they will always betray you. This breach has the potential to pose a long-term strategic threat to U.S. interests and may prove impossible to repair. At a moment when the U.S.-India alliance is more important than ever, this breach takes on added significance.