Modi-Putin car ride highlighted as US Congresswoman criticizes Trump's India policy

The widely circulated photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharing a car ride with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the latter’s recent visit to India made its way into the US Congress on Wednesday, sparking debate over Washington’s approach toward New Delhi.

During Putin’s two-day visit to Delhi last week, PM Modi personally welcomed him at Palam Airport, underscoring the significance of the India-Russia relationship.

The leaders then shared a car from the airport to the Prime Minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, a gesture described by both sides as a demonstration of personal rapport.

The two had previously shared a car at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China, traveling in a made-in-Russia Aurus sedan — a moment widely interpreted as a sign of their close working relationship.

The photograph was used as a poster during a Congressional hearing by Democratic Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia.

#WATCH | Presenting the photo of PM Modi with Russian President Putin during the latter's recent visit to India, US representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove says, "Trump's policies towards India can only be described as cutting our nose to spite our face... Being a coercive partner… pic.twitter.com/fHcakd75LA

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2025

She warned that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and confrontational stance toward India were pushing the US’s strategic partner closer to Moscow.

"Trump's policies towards India can only be described as cutting our nose to spite our face, and this is doing real and lasting damage to the strategic trust and mutual understanding between our two countries," Kamlager-Dove said. Pointing to the poster, she added, "Being a coercive partner has a cost, and this poster is worth a thousand words."

"You do not get a Nobel Peace Prize by driving US strategic partners into the arms of our adversaries," she emphasized, highlighting the potential fallout of current US policies. Kamlager-Dove also criticized Trump for undoing decades of bipartisan progress, stating, "The Biden administration handed Trump a bilateral relationship at the height of its strength, with a revitalised Quad, a budding defence tech partnership and a trusted supply chain partner, only for it to be flush, flush, flush down the toilet."

Warning of historical consequences, she said, "Unless he changes course, Trump will be the American President who lost India." The tariffs she referenced included Trump’s 25 per cent “Liberation Day tariffs” plus an additional 25 per cent levy on India’s imports of Russian oil, bringing the total to a 50 per cent burden. Kamlager-Dove noted, "The tariff rate on India is currently higher than the tariff rate on China," calling the approach counterproductive.

Urging swift action to repair the US-India partnership, Kamlager-Dove concluded, "Congress understands the stakes on a bipartisan basis. And I thank the chair for putting this on the record today."