Washington, D.C. [US], August 31 (ANI): US President Donald Trump, during a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17, sought his support for a Nobel Peace Prize nomination on the grounds of ending India-Pakistan hostilities. PM Modi refused and brushed off Trump’s claim, maintaining New Delhi’s position that the ceasefire had been agreed upon directly between India and Pakistan, according to a report in The New York Times.
The report stated that PM Modi’s refusal to endorse Trump’s pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize played a key role in straining relations between the two nations. During the phone call, Trump reportedly expressed pride in ending the military escalation and mentioned that Pakistan planned to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning.
PM Modi told Trump that the US had no role in the recent ceasefire, which had been settled directly between India and Pakistan, the report said. Weeks after the call, the US announced 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on India and levied an additional 25 percent penalty for New Delhi’s purchase of discounted oil from Russia, bringing the total to 50 percent.
According to The New York Times report by Mujib Mashal, Tyler Pager, and Anupreeta Das, based on interviews with more than a dozen individuals from Washington and New Delhi who spoke on condition of anonymity, the two leaders have not spoken since the June 17 call. Trump is also likely to skip the Quad Summit in India scheduled for later this year.
The report further noted that during the same 35-minute call, PM Modi declined Trump’s invitation to visit Washington before returning to New Delhi after the G7 Summit in Canada. The refusal reportedly stemmed from concerns that Trump might “try to force” a handshake between PM Modi and Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir. A senior Indian official remarked that Trump cared very little about the complexity of India-Pakistan relations.
Later, there were discussions about arranging another call to finalize a partial trade deal. However, with trust between the two leaders deteriorating, Indian officials grew wary of putting PM Modi on the phone with Trump, fearing that Trump would post whatever he wanted on Truth Social regardless of what was agreed upon.
Frustrated by tariff negotiations, Trump attempted to reach out to PM Modi several times, according to two people briefed on the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity. PM Modi did not respond to those requests, they said. However, a White House spokesperson denied that Trump had made such outreach, according to the report. (ANI)
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