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CX Daily: Why Modi Won’t Play Cowboys and Indians With Trump, Opting Instead for Strategic Autonomy

Published: Sep. 16, 2025  9:00 a.m.  GMT+8
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Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on Sept. 1, 2025. Photo: Bloomberg
Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, on Sept. 1, 2025. Photo: Bloomberg

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India-U.S. /

Cover Story: Why Modi Won’t Play Cowboys and Indians With Trump, Opting Instead for Strategic Autonomy

When Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, posed for a photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin on Sept. 1, the gesture spoke louder than any speech.

The image — Modi and Putin, shoulder to shoulder — reverberated across global media far beyond its ceremonial significance. It came at a moment when India’s relationship with its longtime partner, the United States, was visibly fraying.

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