THE GREAT GAME: Can the PM, whose foreign policy dexterity must be applauded, take a leaf out of Virat’s book?

“Only the Chinese are standing up for now. You know what that means. That Trump has recognized that his real antagonist is Xi Jinping, not Putin. That the Chinese, no one else, have the strength and the wherewithal to take on the Americans. Perhaps that’s why Trump wants to embrace the Russian bear — he wants to wean him away from the dragon-like clasp of the Chinese leader. It’s incredible that Trump has realized this basic truth so quickly, but that it eluded the rest of Washington DC for years.”

The blow-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky a week ago is already a thing of the past. The world changed that Oval Office morning and the world saw the raw exercise of power. If Europe — and the Ukrainians — fulminated about the lack of grace and courtesy in the exercise of that power, perhaps they’re right. But they also know that it’s not easy to make omelets if you can’t break a few eggs.

What is amusing is that the Europeans and Britain are this shocked. The British and the French, both Security Council permanent veto powers — as well as all those other nations on the Continent trying desperately to assert themselves on the world stage — have kowtowed to the Americans at least since the end of the Second World War, riding piggyback on the strength of the American dollar.

Europe’s worst-kept secret is the barely hidden contempt the Europeans have for the ugly American – except they want their money. The most overpriced baguettes the other side of Suez are manufactured by Parisians in the summer — when Paris empties itself in anticipation of the hordes of American tourists descending upon the French capital, all looking for one or another version of A Moveable Feast a la Hemingway.

The thing about Trump & Co — JD Vance, Elon Musk and the lot — is that they have no time for what well-known journalist Shekhar Gupta calls “tanpura-setting.” Meaning, all the frills and the fuss that Europe loves so much, couched in words like “egalite” and “liberte” and even “fraternite” — although you should, dear Reader, check out France’s not-long-ago record in North Africa, especially Algeria, where even the White French were dismissively known as “pied noir” or “black feet,” because they weren’t white enough for Mainland French — is all so soul-stirring and uplifting because at the end of the day they know that the bill will be picked up by the Americans across the pond.

Well, Trump & Vance just announced that the time for all this “tanpura-setting” is over. Or, you can continue to set your tanpura, but not on our time or our cheque book. So, Ukraine is welcome to fight till the last Ukrainian, but not on American money. At least Afghanistan taught the US & Europe one thing — fighting someone else’s war doesn’t mean your boys should die for it. Perhaps that’s why they loosened their purse strings, to assuage their guilt.
Trump called out Europe’s hypocrisy that morning in the Oval Office. For three years, Europe and Canada have been encouraging Zelenskyy to fight Vladimir Putin, except, unlike in Afghanistan, they have not been willing to put their body bags where their mouths are.

It’s taken less than a week for the world to fall in line. Not just Zelenskyy, everyone else is also preparing for a Trump-led brave new world, because they know they have no other choice.

Only the Chinese are standing up for now. You know what that means. That Trump has recognized that his real antagonist is Xi Jinping, not Putin. That the Chinese, no one else, have the strength and the wherewithal to take on the Americans. Perhaps that’s why Trump wants to embrace the Russian bear — he wants to wean him away from the dragon-like clasp of the Chinese leader. It’s incredible that Trump has realized this basic truth so quickly, but that it eluded the rest of Washington DC for years.

What, then, must one make of Indian foreign policy in the Age of Trump? Clearly, the Modi government did well by going to meet Trump early, even though this happened around the same time Indians were being deported by the US President in handcuffs and chains. So, Modi swallowed the bitter pill quickly because he knew he had to — quickly get out in front, meet the American President and say your piece.

Modi’s presence in DC was also a reminder of his old slogan, “Ab ki baar, Trump Sarkar”, the stark opposite of Zelenskyy’s support for Biden.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is smartly tying up the rest. That’s why he announced that India will not be in favour of a de-dollarization move, although that is exactly what India had signed up for at the China-led BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan; before the Budget, tariffs for luxury motorcycles were brought down, because Trump had wanted that to happen in his first administration.

In short, try and please Trump, or at the very least pacify him, show him you mean no harm. You know he’s unpredictable – he has just reversed the tariffs he had set for Mexico and Canada — so get on his right side. Don’t pretend you’re non-aligned, because you’re not, nor publicly blather about your friendship as is the usual wont of insecure allies.

As for the upcoming US-Russia entente, India has just been thrown a roll of dice and come up trumps. If Modi plays this well, he can leverage India’s standing both in the West and in the East. A Trump-Putin-Modi summit is no longer out of the realm of possibility.

It follows that the Modi government should pick up some tips about the exercise of power — making friends with your enemies is far more important than with your friends, for example. If Modi wants India to become a regional power, he cannot allow the old prejudices about Pakistan to come in the way. This is far more important than the desire for people-to-people contact — although it would be wonderful to have friends from Pakistan visit for life-changing events like celebrations and marriages in Delhi — and amounts to a fundamental strategic shift in PM Modi’s world-view.

India can never be strong if it is faced by a China-Pakistan axis on either side. Why not drive a wedge between the two by making friends with your weaker, western neighbor, one with whom you also have so much more in common? Instead, India has restored the relationship with China and continues to blacklist Pakistan.

Virat Kohli, about whom the PM admirably tweets and often, showed the way some days ago when he bent over to tie the shoe-laces of the Pakistani batsman he was playing against — a calm confidence about himself, his game and his place in the world.

Can the PM, whose foreign policy dexterity must be applauded, take a leaf out of Virat’s book?

(Jyoti Malhotra is Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune group of newspapers. She has been a journalist for 40 years, working in print, TV and digital, both in English and Hindi media, besides being a regular contributor on BBC Radio. She is also interested in the conflation between politics and foreign policy. Her X handle is @jomalhotra Insta handle @jomalhotra Email: jyoti.malhotra@tribunemail.com)