NEW DELHI — It was not publicly known earlier, but India lodged a private diplomatic protest after President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir for lunch at the White House, according to senior Indian officials cited by Reuters. The outreach alarmed New Delhi and triggered a warning to Washington that such moves could endanger bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi subsequently declined an invitation from Trump to visit Washington following the G7 summit in Canada in June, according to Reuters. The decision, analysts say, reflects New Delhi’s growing unease with Trump’s posture toward Pakistan and a shift in India’s external strategy. Reuters quoted Indian officials and experts noting that India is recalibrating its approach to China as a hedge, even amid longstanding mistrust and border tensions with Beijing.

“We have communicated to the U.S. our position on cross-border terrorism, which is a red line for us,” a senior Indian official told Reuters. “Trump’s inability to understand our concerns does create some wrinkle in ties,” the official added.

Despite years of close cooperation between Washington and New Delhi, Indian officials say Trump’s renewed interest in Pakistan—including discussions of counterterrorism collaboration and potential arms sales—has cast a pall over relations. “The frequency and intensity with which the U.S. is engaging with Pakistan, and seemingly not taking Indian concerns into account, especially after India’s recent conflict with Pakistan, has contributed to a bit of a bilateral malaise,” Washington-based analyst Michael Kugelman told Reuters.

As a result, India has not only slowed trade negotiations with the U.S. but also proposed retaliatory tariffs at the World Trade Organization. A U.S. official, speaking to Reuters, said Washington maintains strong relationships with both India and Pakistan and does not compare one with the other. Still, the damage may have been done. Trump’s repeated claims that he single-handedly averted nuclear war between the two South Asian nations drew a sharp rebuke from Modi, who insisted the ceasefire was brokered directly between Indian and Pakistani military commanders—not through U.S. intervention.

In parallel, India has taken steps to reopen dialogue with China, a significant shift following the deadly 2020 border clash in the Galwan Valley. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar recently visited Beijing, and New Delhi is easing restrictions on Chinese investments that were imposed after the clash. Analysts see the thaw as strategic.

India’s recalibration, officials suggest, is driven partly by uncertainty over how Trump might engage with Beijing. “With an unpredictable dealmaker in the White House, New Delhi cannot rule out Sino-U.S. rapprochement,” Christopher Clary of the University at Albany told Reuters.

@India-West News Desk