As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington for the first time since Donald Trump returned as president of the United States of America, he faces the challenge of high expectations from a relationship that confronts a series of major tests. In meetings with Mr Trump and senior officials of his administration, Mr Modi has and will no doubt articulate New Delhi’s vision for bilateral ties rooted in shared concerns — from terrorism to China’s rise. Yet, despite the many areas of convergence between India and the US, Mr Trump’s early moves in his second stint as president have underscored how key differences could severely strain ties. On Thursday, the US president announced that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on all countries that exercise import duties on American goods, a policy that will hurt India, which counts the US as the largest destination of its exports. Recently, the US also sent back 104 Indian nationals — shackled — on a military plane back home. The humiliating conditions of the deportation sparked outrage in India. Mr Trump had campaigned on the promise of evicting all undocumented immigrants and, as of 2022, an estimated 725,000 Indians were in the US without legal papers. If Mr Trump goes ahead with his plans, a series of politically embarrassing moments awaits Mr Modi.

There are other pressure points in the relationship too. Until now, the US gave India a waiver on sanctions related to New Delhi’s projects in Chabahar. The development of the Iranian port is a strategically vital initiative for New Delhi as it allows India to bypass Pakistan in reaching landlocked Afghanistan. But Mr Trump, in an executive order last week, announced that all waivers would be ended, leaving India’s multi-million-dollar investments in Chabahar in limbo. Getting Mr Trump to respect India’s strategic interests and spare New Delhi from the wrath of his tariffs and deportation plans will not be easy. But if Mr Modi faces a high bar of expectations to succeed in that task, he and his team alone are responsible. They have long pitched Mr Modi’s friendship with the US president as a trump card for India as it navigates the chaos unleashed by Mr Trump. Now that bromance is on trial. Mr Trump and Mr Modi both relish their image as strongmen leading their nations. One of them will need to blink.