Where this was said
Modi's Foreign Policy Failures: Trump, Netanyahu, and the Iran War
At 1:16:30 · chapter starts 1:12:10
Ben asks Ayyub about Modi's foreign policy record, noting that almost everything Trump has done in his second term has hurt India — tariffs, siding with Pakistan in the India-Pakistan conflict, demanding a Nobel Prize for brokering a ceasefire, and making racist slurs about India. [1] — Rana Ayyub "Modi campaigned for Trump, built statues of him, and positioned their relationship as a strongman bromance. Then Trump put tariffs on India…" 1:13:50 Ayyub is withering: India's foreign policy 'does not exist,' she says. Modi's people who built statues of Trump are now abusing him online. When Modi visited Netanyahu in Israel on a three-day trip, Israel launched its war against Iran the next day — leaving Modi looking either complicit or oblivious. When the US sank the Iranian vessel IRIS Jaina, killing three Indian sailors along with Pakistanis and Sri Lankans, Modi issued no condemnation — despite the fact the ship had been in India as India's guest for military demonstrations. At the G7, Trump's congratulations to Modi felt like personal image management rather than country-to-country diplomacy. Ayyub quotes Giorgia Meloni as a counterexample: when Trump insulted her, she pushed back publicly. Where, Ayyub asks, is India's self-respect?
Modi campaigned for Trump, built statues of him, and positioned their relationship as a strongman bromance. Then Trump put tariffs on India, sided with Pakistan in the India-Pakistan conflict, bragged about ending their war, and demanded a Nobel Prize from Modi — who said nothing. India's Trump gamble has backfired spectacularly.
The Iran war has triggered fuel shortages, rising petrol prices, shuttered small businesses, and an airline threatening closure in India. Modi's response has been to ask Indians to carpool and stop buying gold — while flying abroad for selfies. Three Indian sailors were killed when the US sank an Iranian vessel and Modi said nothing.
