New York [US], September 25 (ANI): South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman has sharply criticised US President Donald Trump’s address at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, describing it as “extremely undiplomatic” and reflective of the lack of progress in India-US relations, which has seen its fair share of friction, particularly due to Washington’s imposition of additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, bringing the total to 50 per cent, in response to New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday (local time), Kugelman highlighted Trump’s repeated claims that India is supporting Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine as particularly jarring, especially coming shortly after a phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which the US President wished the Prime Minister on his 75th birthday and referred to him as a “friend”.
“It was extremely undiplomatic. It was a time seemingly rambling. Didn’t appear to make much sense. But there were several things that stood out, and one of them was his decision to once again blame India for sponsoring Russia’s war in Ukraine. This comes not long after he had his brief phone call with Prime Minister Modi to wish him a happy birthday. So, to me, that takeaway, among others, was that we have not yet seen a reset in the US-India relationship,” Kugelman said.
On Tuesday, Trump, during his UNGA address, accused India and China of being the “primary funders” of the Ukraine war through their continued purchase of Russian oil.
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” Trump said in his over an hour-long speech at the General Debate of the UNGA.
Speaking on the recent moves by several Western nations to formally recognise the State of Palestine, Kugelman urged caution against overinterpreting the development.
“What we’re seeing now is a reaction by some countries in the West to do something that many of Israel’s rivals wish they had done a long time ago. So I wouldn’t actually overstate the significance of this recent move to recognise the state of Palestine,” he stated.
Earlier, many Western nations, including France, the UK, Canada, Portugal and Australia, formally recognised the state of Palestine, calling the decision a “defeat for Hamas”.
The move had seen significant backlash from Trump, who described the decision as a “reward to Hamas”.
Addressing the protracted Russia-Ukraine war, Kugelman noted the persistent diplomatic stalemate.
“It’s just been so much back and forth for the last few months. We had that big push from the Trump administration to get Russia to stop fighting. It hasn’t really worked. But I think it’s encouraging that you have Zelenskyy saying that he’s ready to talk, and clearly that’s something that Trump wants to do,” he said.
Kugelman acknowledged Trump’s goal of mediating a ceasefire or comprehensive peace accord but expressed scepticism about Russia’s intentions.
“It continues to be one of his core foreign policy goals to try to mediate some type of end of the war or at least some type of ceasefire. It seems like now he’s looking for a comprehensive peace accord, and we’ll see what happens over these days here in New York if you can have some of these top leaders start discussing more prospects for beginning some type of peace process. Though I’m not optimistic, I really don’t think Russia has any intention of stopping fighting anytime soon,” he added.
The high-level debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commenced on Tuesday in New York, with global leaders giving addresses on pressing global issues.
Discussions were dominated by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, along with the growing Western recognition of Palestinian statehood.
This year’s theme is “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.” (ANI)
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