The Congresswoman urged lawmakers to move with incredible urgency to mitigate the damage this administration has done to the US-India partnership and return to steady cooperation.
The now-famous car selfie of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin surfaced in the US Congress, held aloft as a poster by Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove during a hearing on US foreign policy. Using the image as a prop, she warned that Washington is pushing India closer to Moscow — and that it is the United States, not New Delhi, undermining the partnership.
“Trump’s policies towards India can only be described as cutting our nose to spite our face,” Kamlager-Dove said, arguing that the administration’s pressure tactics are doing “real and lasting damage to the strategic trust and mutual understanding between our two countries.”
Gesturing toward the poster, Kamlager-Dove added, “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 said the moment should be a wake-up call for Washington. “Because let me be clear: being a coercive partner has a cost,” she said.
The Congresswoman urged lawmakers to move with incredible urgency to mitigate the damage this administration has done to the US-India partnership and return to steady cooperation. “Congress understands the stakes on a bipartisan basis,” she said. “And I thank the chair for putting this on the record today.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin rode with Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after landing at Delhi’s Palam Airport last week for his two-day visit, a gesture both sides cast as a sign of personal warmth. The leaders last shared a car during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, travelling in a made-in-Russia Aurus sedan — a moment widely read as a display of their close rapport.
