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This week, President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got here face-to-face on the G7 summit in France, their first such encounter since February 2025. Relatively than his trademark bear hug, Modi greeted Trump with a smile and handshake.
Then on Wednesday, the 2 held a bilateral assembly. It was a pleasant chat, however one which got here in opposition to a backdrop of compounding tensions.
As India works at restoring its relationship with Washington, its arch-foe Pakistan has expanded its personal diplomatic profile, complicating India’s marketing campaign in opposition to its nuclear-armed rival.
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President Donald Trump appears to be like at Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif talking following the official signing of the primary section of the Gaza ceasefire settlement between Israel and Hamas. Shariff introduced his intention to appoint Trump for the Noble Peace Prize for a second time. (Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters)
For years, India constructed a global case in opposition to Pakistan, projecting it as an remoted or destabilizing state. This hardline stance seemed to be working, with Modi declaring to Pakistan, “India has been profitable in isolating you, and we’ll intensify these efforts.”
However a decade later, Pakistan is quickly rising as a key world participant within the area and past.
Whereas Modi initially tried to interact Pakistan, his authorities’s strategy ultimately hardened across the mantra that “terror and talks can not coexist.”
In Washington, India has usually been favored, with Presidents Trump, Biden, Obama and George W. Bush all making visits throughout their time in workplace.
President Donald Trump (R) shakes fingers with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi throughout a bilateral assembly on the G7 Summit on June 17, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photos)
Modi constructed a rapport with Trump throughout his first time period in workplace and was one of many first world leaders invited to the White Home after Trump’s inauguration. However over the previous 12 months, that relationship has come beneath pressure as Islamabad quietly clawed its method again to credibility.
“India misjudged Trump in time period two, banking on as soon as pleasant relations,” Sid Dubey, a visiting professor at Bennett College in India, advised Fox Information Digital. “They’ve but to start out recovering from that.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave to the gang at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. India poured on the pageantry with a joyful, colourful welcome for President Donald Trump on Monday that kicked off a whirlwind 36-hour go to meant to reaffirm U.S.-India ties whereas offering enviable abroad imagery for a president in a re-election 12 months. (AP Photograph/Aijaz Rahi)
The shift first grew to become obvious in Could 2025, when President Trump introduced he had secured a ceasefire between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. The preventing had come over India-administered Kashmir and was the worst in a long time.
Islamabad promptly praised Trump for ending the lethal dispute and even nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. New Delhi, nevertheless, rejected the declare, insisting the ceasefire was the results of direct bilateral talks with Pakistan.
The response mirrored India’s long-standing sensitivity to third-party involvement in what it fiercely maintains is a bilateral dispute.
Within the months that adopted, frictions solely deepened.
FILE — On this Jan. 11, 2013 file photograph, a Pakistani Ranger in black uniform and his Indian counterpart march throughout a flag-off ceremony, on the joint Pakistan-India border verify submit of Wagah close to Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photograph/Ok.M. Chaudary, File)
President Trump hit India with among the steepest tariffs imposed on any main financial system. In the meantime, U.S. sanctions strain on Russian oil rattled power import-dependent India, whereas disputes over H-1B visas added additional pressure. Analysts say Trump’s America First agenda more and more overshadowed the friendship Modi had cultivated throughout Trump’s first time period.
“When Trump sadly stated the Could 2025 conflict ended due to him personally, that upset India loads, they usually made that identified,” Dubey stated. “Then the tariffs had been one other slap in India’s face. In the meantime, Pakistan took benefit, leaving India at a little bit of a loss. From there, relations fell additional with the Iran battle.”
India is among the many nations most not directly affected by the strategic fallout from the Iran war, going through financial strain and mounting power issues.
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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf meets with chief of Defence Forces of Pakistan, Area Marshal Asim Munir, in Tehran, Iran, Could 23, 2026. (Iranian Parliament Speaker Workplace/WANA (West Asia Information Company)/Handout by way of Reuters)
Final week, a U.S. strike additional exacerbated tensions after three Indian seafarers grew to become collateral injury within the battle. They had been the primary and solely seafarers confirmed killed as a part of the U.S. blockade, sparking outrage throughout India.
New Delhi immediately summoned Washington’s Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks, expressing deep concern over the renewed assaults and arguing that its nationals had been changing into casualties in a warfare not their very own.
India additionally warned of the broader humanitarian, financial, and power penalties of the battle, that are anticipated to linger at the same time as an settlement has now been reached.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, heart, walks with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Military Employees Area Marshall Asim Munir, left, and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and International Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool by way of AP Photograph)
All of the whereas, Pakistan was gaining diplomatic visibility, discovering itself within the uncommon place of currying favor in Washington whereas sustaining deep ties with China, Iran and the Gulf states.
Pakistan’s distinguished function in current months highlighted how Islamabad has been extra nimble in its diplomacy than India,” Council on International Relations Senior Fellow Sadanand Dhume advised Fox Information Digital. “Moreover, Pakistan decisively outmaneuvered India’s quixotic bid to isolate Pakistan on the world stage.”
Regional dynamics have additionally been reshaped by the 2 rivals’ competing methods. India has deepened its strategic partnership with the U.S. by means of alliances such because the Quad partnership with the U.S., Australia, and Japan and has expanded cooperation throughout South Asian states, together with a burgeoning relationship with Afghanistan. In the meantime, Pakistan’s rising regional relevance has been mirrored in its strengthened ties with China, improved relations with regional companions like Bangladesh and expanded safety cooperation with Gulf states.
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Moreover, Trump, who accused Pakistan of “deceit and lies” throughout his first time period, has since repeatedly praised its management. In June 2025, the president invited Pakistan’s military chief Asim Munir to the White Home for a high-profile lunch assembly.
Munir was the primary Pakistani military chief who was not additionally president to be hosted by a U.S. president. He additionally led the warfare effort in opposition to India earlier that 12 months.
On this photograph launched by the Inter Companies Public Relations, Pakistan’s Chief of Protection Forces and Military Chief Gen. Asim Munir, heart, Pakistan Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf, left, and Pakistan Air Power Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar attend a guard of honor ceremony on the joint navy command headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Inter Companies Public Relations by way of AP)
Trump described Munir as his “favourite Area Marshal” and an “distinctive human being.”
Their relationship has been additional mirrored in commerce offers and, most lately, Pakistan’s function as a principal mediator in restoring diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran.
“India tried to make Pakistan a global pariah. As a substitute, Pakistan has wormed its method into Trump’s good books by means of a mix of concrete co-operation with the U.S. and outrageous flattery of the president, resulting in Trump elevating Area Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as heroes,” Dhume stated.
India, in the meantime, has maintained shut ties with Israel whereas usually sticking to extra measured messaging.
On June 15, upon the settlement of a take care of Iran, Modi launched an announcement, saying, “India hopes that the implementation of this understanding will assist restore peace and stability within the area and make sure the freedom of navigation and commerce.”
“Hats off to Pakistan. They labored actually arduous to carry this awfully disruptive warfare with Iran to an finish,” Dubey advised Fox. “India sadly misplaced out by not in search of to be an issue solver like Pakistan. It may have performed its playing cards higher as a peacemaker, given its historically robust relations with Tehran.”
Nonetheless, analysts warning these are quickly evolving dynamics. There isn’t any assure that Pakistan’s present second will final, and the tide for India may nonetheless flip.
“Pakistan’s mediation function has allowed it to considerably reset its worldwide picture. It has positioned itself as a accountable worldwide actor fairly than a rogue state accountable for each nuclear proliferation and exporting Islamic terrorism. How lengthy this lasts relies upon in massive measure on two issues: will Pakistan discover a strategy to stay in Trump’s good books, and can it be capable to change its conduct sufficiently to persuade the world that it has certainly turned over a brand new leaf,” Dhume advised Fox Information Digital.
In the meantime, India is working to regain its place and present the U.S. it’s nonetheless a dependable associate.
Marco Rubio visited India final month, his first since changing into Trump’s prime diplomat final 12 months, which was extensively seen as an try to reset ties.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as President Donald Trump appears to be like on throughout a cupboard assembly within the Cupboard Room of the White Home in Washington, DC, on April 30, 2025. (JIM WATSON/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Trump and Modi’s G7 meeting marked one other vital step.
Trump praised Modi as “calm, cool and completely killer” and stated he can be touring to India “someday sooner or later.” India has been urgent Trump for a go to, doubtlessly as a part of a broader assembly involving Japan and Australia.
Trump additionally stated the US would defend India.
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“If anyone assaults that man, we will be there,” Trump stated, referring to Modi. “Now, if there’s a brand new chief, I’m unsure about it.”
The Pakistani and Indian governments didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital requests for remark.
