New Delhi: Former diplomat Vikas Swarup has claimed that US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on India stem from a mix of political resentment and economic pressure tactics — including New Delhi’s refusal to acknowledge his alleged role in brokering peace with Pakistan after Operation Sindoor and India’s resistance to US demands in trade talks.
In an interview with ANI, Swarup — former High Commissioner to Canada — said Trump is “miffed” that India has not credited him for mediating the post-Pahalgam attack ceasefire in May, while Pakistan publicly acknowledged his role and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India has maintained that the truce was negotiated directly between the armed forces of both nations, without foreign mediation.
Swarup also pointed to Trump’s suspicion over India’s BRICS membership, which he reportedly views as “anti-American” and aimed at creating an alternative to the US dollar.
Trade Tensions & ‘Tariff King’ Label
According to Swarup, Washington has been pressuring India to open its agriculture, dairy, and GM crop markets. India’s refusal, he said, has prompted Trump to impose tariffs as leverage. He noted the irony of the US calling India a “Tariff King” when America’s average tariff rate is now higher than India’s.
“Tariffs will only raise inflation in the US and burden American consumers,” Swarup warned, adding that caving in to such pressure would encourage further demands.
Pakistan’s Lobbying & ‘Crypto King’ Ambition
Swarup said the US tilt towards Pakistan is tactical and financially motivated, citing lobbying in Washington and Trump family stakes in cryptocurrency ventures linked to Pakistan. He claimed Islamabad is trying to brand itself as the “Crypto King of South Asia” and has secured Trump’s ear through strategic deals.
However, he stressed that US–India ties remain strategic, not transactional, and the current turbulence is “a storm, not a rupture.”
Indus Waters Treaty & Nuclear Blackmail
Swarup said Pakistan is rattled by India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty following the Pahalgam terror attack. He accused Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir of using “nuclear blackmail” to attract global attention, warning of attacks on dams a threat Swarup dismissed as impractical.
‘Peacemaker’ Ambitions
Highlighting Trump’s pattern of injecting himself into global conflicts, Swarup said the US President sees the India–Pakistan episode as his biggest mediation success and is motivated by a desire to outdo Barack Obama in winning the Nobel Peace Prize — possibly by brokering a Russia–Ukraine ceasefire in upcoming talks with Vladimir Putin.
Despite the tensions, Swarup concluded, India’s strategic autonomy is non-negotiable and has been the bedrock of its foreign policy since the 1950s.
