The strategic effects of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin were felt even hours after it ended. Images of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked intense reactions from the American political establishment.
On 1st September, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro stated, “It was a shame to see Modi getting in bed, as a leader of the biggest democracy in the world, with the two biggest authoritarians in the world in Putin and Xi Jinping. That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not sure what he’s thinking particularly since India has been in a cold war, and sometimes a hot war, with China for decades. We hope the Indian leader comes around to seeing that he needs to be with the US, Europe as well as Ukraine and not Russia.”
It’s a shame to see Modi getting in bed with Xi Jinping and Putin – Trump’s trade adviser @RealPNavarro
Trump himself shared the stage with Putin only a few days ago and met Pakistani General Munir twice last month.
Was he bedding with them too? pic.twitter.com/vFlkWKMmFj
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) September 2, 2025
While the United States is once again demonstrating its hypocrisy by criticising India, it is important to highlight that President Donald Trump met with Putin in Alaska last month. However, the meeting did not yield any productive results, despite Trump’s bold assertions.
Meawhile, the White House trade czar has regularly attacked New Delhi’s ongoing oil trade with Moscow since Trump dropped his 50% tariff shocker on India. He has not even shied away from making outrageous statements including claims that the revenue from oil purchases is financing the Ukraine war and that Brahmins are benefiting at the cost of the Indian citizens. Navarro even described the Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war.” He declared that India is “Maharaja of tariffs” and the nation refuses to admit that it has the highest tariff rates among major economies.
On the other hand, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to undermine the crucial development at Tianjin. “This is a longstanding meeting, it’s called the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and I think it’s largely performative. I think at the end of the day, India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China’s than to Russia’s,” he remarked. He had earlier alleged that “wealthy Indian families” were exploiting the situation to profit from Russian oil.
The Trump administration has not hesitated to adopt the terminology used by the Indian opposition to target the Modi government. From Rahul Gandhi’s references to the Adani-Ambani nexus to the invocation of caste politics, US officials have employed various tactics to pressure India into refraining from purchasing Russian oil.
India faces an additional tariff of 25% for the procurement of Russian oil while the US has not only relieved Beijing from any tariffs on Russian oil purchases but also defended this double standard. Nevertheless, a resolute New Delhi has only intensified their frustration, leading them to engage in further rants.
