Adani charges to test Trump’s desire to keep India in US orbit
Huawei Technologies Co. for breaching US laws shocked President Xi Jinping’s inner circle and raised questions over whether Donald Trump would intervene in the case.
Trump now faces a similar dilemma after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani — India’s most powerful businessman and a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — in a $250 million bribery scheme. While Modi’s party called it a private matter, and Adani’s company denied the allegations, the case threatens to roil US-India diplomatic ties.
Although Trump didn’t intervene in the Huawei case, which was eventually settled in 2021 after he left office, on its face he’ll have more incentive to make this case go away. Beyond Trump’s personal connection with Modi, the incoming US president has packed his team with China hawks who want to see stronger ties with India to counterbalance Beijing’s power in the region.
Yet even if Trump does a favor for Adani, who praised the president-elect’s “unbreakable tenacity” after his election win, the case is yet another reminder of the long reach of US law — one that can affect both friends and foes around the world. A proliferation of American sanctions targeting Russia, China and even India, although it’s mostly gotten waivers, has accelerated the expansion of the BRICS grouping as nations seek an alternative to the US dominance of the financial system.
For India in particular, the charges against Adani only reinforces its strategy to keep a foot in both major camps, staying friendly with the US while also keeping up
