As the bilateral relations between India and the United States saw an unprecedented downturn amid the raging trade war, a media report claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to attend President Donald Trump’s phone calls at least four times in recent weeks.
“Trump has tried four times in recent weeks to get Modi on the phone. But Modi refuses to take the call,” said German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
“Kitchen psychology is very popular in India these days. It is said on the subcontinent that Narendra Modi suffers from a trauma trigger called Trump,” it said.
The authenticity of the report, which did not name any sources, could not be independently verified.
Nikkei Asia, A Japan-based news magazine, had also made a similar claim earlier this week. “Trump recently attempted multiple times to call Modi in search of a compromise. But the Indian leader has consistently refused to take the calls, further heightening Trump’s frustration,” the report said, quoting unnamed Indian diplomatic experts.
The India-US relations have nosedived in the past few weeks, after Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, citing New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
The new tariff, which takes the total levy on Indian goods to the US to a whopping 50 per cent, came into effect on Wednesday, August 27.
Moreover, the US President’s repeated claim that his direct intervention had averted a nuclear war between India and Pakistan in May has also irked New Delhi, which maintains that the ceasefire decision was taken bilaterally following a request from the Pakistan DGMO.
India has also dismissed Trump’s assertions that he had used trade to exert pressure on both India and Pakistan to end the conflict and agree to a ceasefire.
In late June, Modi turned down Trump’s last-minute invitation to Washington after the G20 Summit in Canada. According to reports, the US President wanted Modi at the White House along with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir to bolster his peace brokering claims.
PM Modi refused to attend Donald Trump’s phone call four times amid raging tariff war: Report
