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Modi could've avoided embarrassing Trump on India-Pak claim, but...: Top political scientist Ian Bremmer
Political scientist Ian Bremmer was referring to Trump's repeated assertions of brokering a truce between India and Pakistan days after Operation Sindoor.
Heaping praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, political scientist and Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer on Friday said he could've "easily not embarrassed" US President Donald Trump on his India-Pak ceasefire claims, but chose to say no.
Bremmer was referring to Donald Trump's repeated assertions of brokering a truce between India and Pakistan days after Operation Sindoor, a claim New Delhi has denied.
"The Chinese have stood up to Trump. And effectively the Russians have stood up to Trump... And I think Modi is in that space... Modi could have easily not embarrassed Trump about the India-Pakistan issue. And instead, Modi decided to publicly say, 'No, you had nothing to do with this,' and really did embarrass Trump on the global stage," Bremmer was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Ian Bremmer pointed to countries that have pushed back against Donald Trump, noting that the US President “doesn’t care” and is mainly interested in showcasing his power to the world. "His view is, 'I'm powerful, I'm the president; you've got to listen to me...', Bremmer said.
In July this year, PM Modi dismissed Trump's India-Pak ceasefire claims in an address to the Lok Sabha and said, “No leader in the world asked India to stop military action". The Prime Minister said US Vice President JD Vance had tried calling him on May 9, a day before the ceasefire was agreed to, but the call couldn't be answered as PM Modi was in a meeting with the army.
JD Vance told him that Pakistan was planning a major attack, PM Modi had said, adding that his answer was: "If this is Pakistan's intention, it will pay a heavy price".
Reflecting on PM Modi publicly denying Trump's claims, Ian Bremmer further heaped praise on the strategic move, drawing a contrast with how other global leaders approach Trump.
"Modi decided personally that he was going to make this public and he was going to embarrass the US President, even though the US President is much more powerful than Modi is. And most other leaders in that position have chosen to remain silent. They've sucked it up," Bremmer further said.
Citing the example of Keir Starmer, Ian Bremmer said the UK Prime Minister doesn't like Donald Trump but got a better deal from Trump than other countries. "He's (Starmer) in a very weak position... Modi is really on the opposite side of that. And that certainly has helped Modi in terms of domestic politics. We will see if there are broader consequences on the security and the economic relationship," the Eurasia Group President said.
Since India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in May after days of military clashes, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for brokering the truce, even linking it to trade. New Delhi has consistently dismissed these claims, stressing that the ceasefire was reached bilaterally after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) contacted his Indian counterpart.
