Trump May Skip Quad Summit in India as Tariff Tensions Boil Over

India–US relations, once showcased as a partnership of mutual admiration, are now showing deep cracks. According to a New York Times report, US President Donald Trump is reconsidering his promised visit to New Delhi for the 2025 Quad Summit, a high-stakes gathering of the US, India, Japan, and Australia to discuss Indo-Pacific security.

The abrupt shift comes amid escalating trade disputes, US tariffs on Indian goods, and sharp diplomatic spats. Washington has slapped successive levies on Indian imports, the latest a punishing 50 percent tariff linked to New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.

Adding fuel to the fire, Trump reportedly irked Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a June 2025 phone call by claiming personal credit for easing India-Pakistan tensions and suggesting a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Modi rebuffed the claim, underscoring that the ceasefire was negotiated bilaterally—highlighting India’s long-held stance that Pakistan is a strictly bilateral issue.

The fallout has been swift. Indian officials have branded Washington’s tariff measures as “gundagardi” (thuggery), while Modi prepares for back-to-back meetings with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the SCO Summit in Beijing.

Public anger in India has also risen sharply, with effigies of Trump burned in protest. Visa restrictions, deportations, and anti-immigrant rhetoric in the US have further dented his popularity among Indians.

Should Trump ultimately snub the Quad Summit in Delhi, analysts warn it would mark more than a diplomatic slight—it could trigger a fundamental shift in India’s foreign policy posture, pushing New Delhi closer to Beijing and Moscow at a moment when the Indo-Pacific balance hangs in the balance.