With India and China bolstering their ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, a geopolitical expert called US President Donald Trump a "bully" who "steals lunch money" from classmates.
Einar Tangen, Senior Fellow at Taihe Institute in Beijing, said Trump felt he could force India into submission by levying 50 per cent tariffs over import of discounted Russian oil but New Delhi has stood up to the "bully".
"Belittling a country like India, which is of such great importance for the markets and labour, I don't think it makes sense," Tangen told NDTV during a panel discussion.
This comes as Modi and Xi agreed to find a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable" solution to the border disputes while improving trade and investment relations.
Calling the SCO Summit a "moment of optics", the expert said it "sends a strong message to Washington for its arbitrary actions towards India."
Tangen said the US is worried about India staying non-aligned and not giving in to its "colonial games" by pitting India against other powers like Russia and China.
"Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on 180 countries, including some penguins. At this juncture, India has an opportunity. We are at a time when a bully is striding the world stage, literally trying to take everyone's lunch money for no apparent reason. India can stand up to it. India has been the balancing power both at SCO and BRICS," he said during the discussion.
The expert went on to claim that PM Modi's leadership keeps the US up at night. "It is an opportunity to stand up, be counted, and for Modi to take the mantle of leadership," he added.
During the SCO summit, Modi backed China's presidency of the SCO while inviting Xi to the BRICS summit that India will host in 2026.