Did PM Modi's Nobel snub push Trump to put tariffs on India? US academic Terril Jones thinks so

Leading American academic Terril Jones has weighed in on India-US relations under the Trump 2.0 administration, describing Donald Trump’s negotiating style as one aimed at projecting himself as a global peace broker. According to Jones, this included the president’s claims of pushing for a ceasefire between India and Pakistan — a claim firmly denied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which Trump reportedly took personally.

In an interview with ANI, Jones said the sudden shifts seen in bilateral ties reflected Trump’s approach to governance.
“Policies do change quickly and are adapted quickly,” he noted.


Explaining Trump’s strategy, Jones said, “Donald Trump’s strategy is often to put out high demand and then negotiate down from that and then declare victory, and that may be what he’s doing now.”

The academic said Trump had hoped for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Modi, and when that did not materialise, he responded with tariffs.
“Donald Trump wants to be a global player — not just economically but politically, geopolitically also. So he was very quick to claim credit for negotiating a peace settlement for the conflict between India and Pakistan in May, which Prime Minister Modi vigorously denied and said that, no, we don’t need to rely on the United States or anybody in our dealings with Pakistan. But Donald Trump was pushing that narrative and hoping that Prime Minister Modi would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize. And when that didn’t happen, he takes it personally and then tends to, when he does take something personally like that, he reacts with tools that he has at his disposal. And as he has said many times, he thinks the word tariff is the most beautiful word in the English language,” Jones said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping hostilities between India and Pakistan following New Delhi’s precision strikes on terror infrastructure under Operation Sindoor. India has consistently rejected such claims, reiterating that any matters related to Jammu and Kashmir are addressed bilaterally with Pakistan.

On India-China ties, Jones observed that Chinese President Xi Jinping, now in his third term, increasingly sees China as a global leader.

“One reason that we saw Prime Minister Modi get such a warm welcome in Tianjin when he was at the SCO summit last week is this realignment. I think we’ll see more of it because things are becoming less predictable,” he said.

Jones added that Washington’s approach had turned “a lot” on its head.
“I think Xi Jinping is not afraid. He does not want to have the United States dictate terms,” he remarked.

Highlighting the combined strength of India and China, Jones said, “Xi Jinping and Modi can leverage to say — you know, we’ve got power. We’ve got leverage. We don’t necessarily need you, the United States. And unless you are going to deal with us on more favourable terms, we can work some things out that will be to our benefit.”

Terril Jones has worked as a journalist for nearly 40 years, including 18 years overseas in Japan, China and France, and in the United States covering the UN in New York, the auto industry in Detroit, and technology in Silicon Valley. He now teaches international journalism.

With inputs from ANI