Asian Angle | Cringeworthy, yes, but Ivanka Trump had something to say about US-India ties

Many of the post-G20 headlines were hogged by one widely circulated – and admittedly cringe-inducing – video of Ivanka Trump inserting herself awkwardly into a conversation between the leaders of Britain, France and Canada, prompting one apparently dismissive look from the head of the International Monetary Fund.

It was, however, another less noticed – if equally cringeworthy – Ivanka Trump video from Osaka that drew the attention of followers of US-India relations, where she emerged in the unlikely role of State Department spokesperson. Providing a readout of her father’s meetings with India’s Narendra Modi and Japan’s Shinzo Abe, she described India glowingly as “a critical trading partner, a critical security partner and a critical ally”.

Indeed, her upbeat reading was a sharp contrast to a relationship recently in the headlines for the wrong reasons over a number of spats, most notably on trade. A relationship, according to some observers, in worrying free-fall. Only days after Modi was basking in his stunning May election victory for a second term, the Trump administration revoked India’s trade benefits under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status, essentially taxing US$5.5 billion worth of Indian imports. Delhi responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own, and was left once again concerned about how Trump really viewed what has been an increasingly crucial strategic relationship for India.