Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently demonstrated his strategy at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Tianjin, facing the aggressive trade policies and high tariffs of US President Donald Trump. Modi’s stance was based on strong diplomatic and global cooperation.
Trump suddenly announced a 50% tariff on Indian goods regarding India’s Russian oil import policies. Despite this, India maintained its strategic freedom and did not change the oil policy. With this, India started searching for alternative partnerships.
In Tianjin, Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia President Vladimir Putin. During this time India gave a message to further strengthen relations with China and Russia. China exempted the restrictions imposed on the export of rare earth elements, while Russia introduced measures to balance the trade damage from the US tariff.
Modi’s action reflects India’s independent foreign policy and gives a clear message that India will not depend only on America. Russia also rejected American pressure, supporting India and described Modi’s leadership ability as “balanced and intelligent”.
India reduced the influence of American tariffs through domestic reforms and strengthened several global partnerships while active in platforms like Quad and SCO. The meeting at Tianjin showed that despite the US economic pressure, India is playing a leading role in multilateral diplomacy, keeping its interests safe.
This strategy strengthened India’s position globally and showed that India can not only protect its economic interests but can increase its influence in world politics.