What a summer. The Trump administration slapped punitive tariffs of 50% on India while administration officials and MAGA influencers vilified America’s most important potential long-term partner in the Indo-Pacific. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a highly publicized visit to a Chinese-sponsored anti-American political summit.
Fortunately, September seems to have brought a change in the weather.
President Trump came within hailing distance of an apology on Friday when he called Mr. Modi a great prime minister and praised the special relationship between the world’s two largest democracies. New Delhi was quick to respond, with Mr. Modi praising his good friend Donald Trump and pointedly skipping a virtual Brics trade summit called by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.