NEW DELHI, Nov 7: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump call each other friends, but analysts say that looming trade disputes will test their cosy relationship when the latter again becomes US president.
The bear hugs and bonhomie both men have shared during their official encounters belie Trump's occasionally aggressive posture towards New Delhi in his first term, when he dubbed India a "tariff king" and "trade abuser".
Trump pledged to impose "reciprocal" tariffs on countries that have trade surpluses with the United States, a move that could stymie industries in the world's fifth-largest economy.
"Look at the direction Trump wants to take America... to bring economic and industrial activity back to the US," Indrani Bagchi, the chief executive of the Delhi-based Ananta Aspen Centre think-tank, told AFP.
"For decades America has lived off the idea that things are produced elsewhere and you get them cheap," she added.
"If manufacturing indeed moves back to the US, what does that mean for countries that have a trade surplus with America?"
India is the ninth-largest trading partner of the United States, with a trade surplus of more than $30 billion in the 2023-24 financial year. —AFP
