US President Donald Trump on Friday remarked in a social media post that it “looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China,” while extending a sarcastic wish for a “prosperous” future to the three nations.
His remarks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin earlier this week.
“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
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See the post here:
PM Modi-Xi reset at SCO summit
The Tianjin summit marked PM Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, a trip many observers described as a “turning point” in regional dynamics. The hostility that had defined India-China relations since the Galwan clash in 2020 was notably absent.
Xi Jinping accorded PM Modi a warmer reception than most other leaders and used unusually friendly language, declaring it was “vital to be friends, a good neighbour, and the dragon and the elephant to come together.”
In their bilateral meeting, PM Modi and President Xi agreed to resolve longstanding border disputes and deepen economic cooperation. The optics of the summit, which also included Putin, were seen by analysts as signalling the emergence of a “new world order” amid Washington’s tariff wars.
Also Read: PM Modi SCO Summit 2025: SCO member states condemn Pahalgam attack
Trump’s tariffs strain India-US ties
Relations between New Delhi and Washington have soured since Trump imposed steep tariffs. Indian goods now face a 50 per cent duty in the US, including an additional 25 per cent penalty for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude oil.
Trump had earlier slapped tariffs as high as 145 per cent on Chinese imports, before later negotiating an interim deal that reduced duties on both sides–US tariffs on Chinese goods dropping to 30 per cent, and Beijing lowering its tariffs on American products from 125 per cent to 10 per cent.
Also Read: What did PM Modi and Putin really talked about in that Limo ride?
Putin’s rebuke to Washington
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at China’s victory parade earlier this week, rebuked Trump’s approach, accusing Washington of employing “colonial-era pressure tactics” against major economies like India and China.
“Powerful economies like India and China, with heavy populations, have their domestic political mechanism and laws,” Putin said, warning that threatening such nations was politically reckless. “The colonial era is over. They have to realise they cannot use this term when speaking with their partners,” he added, calling out Trump’s lack of understanding of Asian powers and their leaders.
