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Finland President Alexander Stubb pushed for a more “dignified” approach when it came to foreign policy in the global south, particularly naming India. In a message directed to the United States, Stubb said that if the foreign policy was not more cooperative, “we are going to lose this game”.
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“My message, not only to my European colleagues, but especially to the United States, is that if we don’t derive a more cooperative and dignified foreign policy towards Global South, the likes of India, we are going to lose this game,” Stubb said.
He also reflected on the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended. “The meeting is a good reminder to all of us in the global west of what is at stake. We’re trying to preserve the remnants of the old order,” he said.
Stubb’s remarks came amid ongoing trade tensions between India and the US over President Donald Trump’s sweeping 50% tariffs on Indian imports.
The Finnish President is considered close to Trump. Both of them bonded over seven-hour-long round of golf at the US President’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, back in March.
Some reports have said that Stubb is among a select few European leaders whose opinion may influence over Donald Trump. “Among small countries, there is no equivalent whatsoever. (Stubb) has gained unique access to Trump that no one else from a smaller European country has ever had,” Jan Hallenberg of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs was recently quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
The Finland President also accompanied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House earlier in August to discuss the situation with Russia.
Trump had referred to Stubb as a him as a “young, powerful man”, and told him he did a great job, and “we wanted to have you here because you are somebody that we all respect.”
One half of the whopping 50% tariffs on Indian imports was imposed by Trump citing New Delhi’s oil purchase from Russia. In his most latest remark, Trump claimed that India’s tariffs on the US are among the highest in the world, reiterating the Harley Davidson bikes’ example. “We get along with India very well, but for many years it was a one-sided relationship… India was charging us tremendous tariffs, the highest in the world,” Trump said.
The tariffs took effect on August 27, and the textile and diamond industries in India are among those impacted by the duties.
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