India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is edging closer to China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, a shift that risks straining ties with Washington.
Modi is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, his first visit there in seven years, amid deep frustration with U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff war.
Analysts say India is recalibrating after “putting too many eggs in the American basket” and now seeks balance by engaging Beijing and Moscow. But this comes just days after Washington punished New Delhi with 50 percent tariffs over its Russian oil purchases.
Modi’s outreach may ease regional tensions, yet it leaves him vulnerable to further U.S. retaliation and a weakened negotiating hand.