DC Edit | India Must Live Down Threats From Trump & US
The world witnessed imperialism in its most modern form as American troops secretly attacked Nicolas Maduro’s presidential compound in Caracas, making him a prisoner of his home justice system on charges of narco-terrorism.
The post-US action scenario, meticulously prepared by Trump-led forces, is a throwback to the days of the East India Company, when the subcontinent was forced to trade on colonial terms and lost all its wealth; The only difference is that what the recent invader, the United States, now claims is Venezuelan oil.
Renaming the 1823 Monroe doctrine, which first articulated U.S. claims to the Western Hemisphere, Trump is now turning his sights to Colombia, where President Gustavo Petro may have received the special Maduro treatment, Cuba and even Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory held by U.S. ally NATO member Denmark.
Far from bringing about serious regime change, the United States, under CIA advice, has been content to allow Maduro regime loyalists, including vice president Delcy Rodriguez, who is now President and head of state, to continue to rule in a manner that seems most appropriate to carry out US orders regarding the Venezuelan oil trade. Rather than being a world power that should help protect and preserve the rules-based international order, the Trump administration is behaving like an imperial mafia whose goal is extortion.
At a time of extreme geopolitical volatility, Trump attacked India’s preference for Russian crude with some more anger; This preference was reduced upon his suggestions, but he remains angry that he did not allow the negotiations on the free trade agreement to yield results while the talks were ongoing. Trump clearly isn’t inclined to move quickly on the India FTA, and he may soon have a lot more up his sleeve in a midterm year when even his MAGA base should be feeling a little insecure.
It’s clear that Trump is letting things slide as he continues to flog one of the few countries, along with China and Brazil, that have stood up to him and defied his diktat to sign on the dotted line to buy American corn and dairy products in exchange for a free trade agreement. However, India is on somewhat solid ground here, as sectors more critical to America’s interests, such as IT services, generic pharmaceuticals, and electronics, especially iPhones, are exempt from the FTA framework, which suits India.
If Trump’s domestic compulsions require keeping India in suspense even though the 25 percent plus 25 percent tariff has been in place since August 2025, there is little India can do other than hope that diversified export destinations will help the Indian exporter overcome and that the losses in US exports they now have to endure due to not being passed on to the consumer will not be excessive.
It is easy enough to mock the civility of the days of “Namaste Trump” and “Hello Modi”, but is there anything India can do or offer to the US that will satisfy a capricious and transactional President when even its aspirations for the Nobel Peace Prize may have dissipated after the Venezuelan raid in which the global pacifist turned into a marauder operating through his own war ministry?
