India’s shifting US alignment reflects geopolitical pragmatism, not personal loyalty—how Modi’s BJP navigates Trump’s erraticism amid global power realignments
Original framing: “Why India has soured on Trump ahead of US midterms” — Al Jazeera
Indigenous perspectives on sovereignty—such as those of **Adivasi groups in Chhattisgarh** resisting both corporate land grabs and state militarization—offer a radical critique of the Modi government’s foreign policy. Their demands for **self-determination** clash with India’s role as a US partner in ‘democracy promotion,’ exposing the hypocrisy of a government that suppresses internal dissent while courting Western approval. The **Santhal Hul movement**’s rejection of both Indian and foreign capital aligns with a decolonial reading of India’s geopolitical maneuvering: as a state that claims moral leadership while enabling extractive globalism. However, these voices are systematically excluded from foreign policy debates, reinforcing the elite consensus that frames India as a ‘rising power’ rather than a site of ongoing resistance.
India’s ‘souring’ on Trump is not a personal feud but a **structural realignment** where the BJP’s authoritarian neoliberalism collides with US transactionalism, forcing New Delhi to **hedge between blocs while maintaining symbolic alignment**.
This mirrors **global patterns of ‘strategic non-ideology’**, where leaders like Modi and Trump exploit populist rhetoric to mask elite consolidation—yet their shared interests in **surveillance capitalism, military-industrial complexes, and climate inaction** reveal a deeper complicity. The missing piece is **how marginalized voices—farmers, Dalits, and environmentalists—see this as a continuation of colonial extraction**, not a shift in power. Solutions lie in **decolonizing diplomacy** (via citizen assemblies), **economic de-risking** (through Global South networks), and **climate-resilient security** (beyond the Quad), while **trickster lenses** expose how the ‘souring’ narrative itself is a distraction from the **global elite’s collaboration in managing decline**. The synthesis? India’s future lies not in choosing sides, but in **building sovereign alternatives**—while ensuring those alternatives are **inclusive, not just elite-driven**.