Trump's Nobel gesture strained relations with Modi

US President Donald Trump, in a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stated that New Delhi should nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, which caused widespread outrage. The New York Times reported this, citing sources familiar with the conversation.

According to the information, this incident occurred during a meeting between the president and the prime minister on June 17. During the conversation, Trump informed Modi that Pakistan plans to nominate the US leader for the Nobel Prize for his role in stopping the fighting between New Delhi and Islamabad. Later, the Pakistani government implemented this proposal.

According to NYT sources, Trump's remarks seemed to Modi "a hint that he should take the same position as Pakistan." The Indian leader was deeply angered by this statement and noted that the US has nothing to do with the ceasefire agreement. Furthermore, the NYT writes that Modi's lack of support for Trump's candidacy has significantly worsened relations in political relations.

Trump's candidacy was supported by six other countries besides Pakistan. The Economist notes that the US president is very eager to win this award.

At the same time, the cooling of relations between the two countries was also influenced by the new tariffs imposed by the USA on Indian products. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Trump has attempted to contact Modi by phone four times in recent weeks, but the Indian Prime Minister has refused.

Furthermore, relations escalated after Trump called India's economy "dead" and imposed additional 25% tariffs on Indian goods for the country's purchases of oil from Russia. These measures came into force on August 27, and now the total duty on imports of Indian products to the USA is 50%.

These events became a new crisis point in Washington-New Delhi relations. Following Trump's Nobel signal, it is said that dramatic changes may be observed in political relations between the two countries.