'Trump realised India won't surrender': Ex-envoy on US President's softened tone; takes 'Triple-T' dig

NEW DELHI: "Trumped-up Trump Tariff," said former Indian diplomat KP Fabian on Sunday, taking a 'Triple-T' dig at Donald Trump, noting that the US President is now beginning to realise his aggressive trade threats have failed to achieve the intended results as he recently called India-US ties a "very special relationship."Responding to Trump’s recent shift in tone on India, Fabian said the tariffs were "without any solid basis" and underestimated India’s determination."Prime Minister Modi did what is appropriate to respond to a cordial tweet, but from this, we cannot conclude that we are going to see any early end to this, what I call 'Triple T' -- Trumped-up Trump Tariff. Trumped-up means without basis. But at the same time, it is reasonably clear that President Donald Trump has started to realise his original expectation that India would surrender when he threatened an additional 25 per cent. He has started to realise that he was wrong," the former diplomat said."What he has to realise is that India is India. India is a civilisational state. India cannot be a meek camp follower of any other country. India wants to be friends with everyone and wants to do business, but India cannot take dictation," he noted.The remarks come after Trump softened his tone on India-US relations, calling the ties "very special" and affirming his friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his administration imposed 25% tariffs on Indian goods, along with an additional 25% duty on India’s Russian oil purchases, pushing the total levies to 50%.Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump said, "I always will. I'll always be friends with (PM) Modi. He's a great Prime Minister. I'll always be friends, but I just don't like what he is doing at this particular moment.""But India and the United States have a very special relationship. There is nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion," he added.Following Trump’s statement, PM Modi responded warmly on Saturday, saying he "deeply appreciates and fully reciprocates President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties."Sharing a post on X, PM Modi described India-US relations as 'forward-looking" and highlighted the "Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership" between the two nations."Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership," the Prime Minister added.