Trump is changing the map; India can’t afford to be a spectator

When Donald Trump posts on social media claiming he's become the acting president of Venezuela, why is the world shocked? When he talks about taking over Greenland, why does it surprise anyone? Didn't we see this coming?

Here's what we're missing. The world today isn't divided between right and wrong anymore. It's divided between the weak and the strong. And there's no sympathy for being weak. You can't say "I'm right but I'm weak, please support me" and expect anyone to stand with you. That's the harsh reality of 2026.

This is exactly why Jeffrey Sachs, a famous American economist, recently suggested in an interview with a news channel that India should quit the Quad. The Quad is a partnership between India, Australia, Japan, and the United States where these countries talk regularly about peace, stability, trade, and technology. It's not a military group that fights wars together, just a discussion forum. But Sachs believes it's an American game, and India is too great a country to play someone else's game. India is a major power and shouldn't be part of arrangements that don't serve our interests.

The United States has become unstable, irresponsible, and frankly dangerous. This is our reality now. Security alliances like the Quad don't have real strategic value for India anymore. They've become just for show because every nation is working only for itself. There's no real binding power in the Quad anymore.

These are times for building our own strength. India must quickly build military power and infrastructure. The country should at least double its military spending and increase salaries for defense forces. Yes, it means investing more in weapons, training, and technology. Militarize India, and you secure India's future. The economy will be fine if the military is strong.

Think about it. America is planning to annex Greenland, claiming to be Venezuela's acting president, threatening Iran, doing whatever they want while their country runs $38 trillion in national debt. Trump himself says there are Russian destroyers, Chinese destroyers, and submarines all around Greenland, and America won't let Russia or China take it over. And why can he do this? Because America is militarily strong, not because they're economically strong. America's economy is actually struggling.

Trump insults Greenland daily. He mocks them saying their entire defense is just two dog sleds. A dog sled is simply a sled pulled by dogs across snow and ice. He's basically saying Greenland has no real military defense. The fact is, whether Russian, Chinese, or American, everybody's grabbing territory. This is the new age of colonialism, but this time it's backed by advanced military power and technology.

We're already in the middle of a new era of high-tech military colonialism. Countries are annexing parts of the world right now. There's no point being weak or even relatively weak. If you don't stand up for yourself, if you don't build military capacity that can counter or even threaten America or China when needed, you will be crushed, directly or indirectly.

Look at Europe. Europe believed in military alliances. They thought if anything bad happened, America would protect them. So over decades, Europe became like a vassal state, meaning a weaker region controlled by a stronger power. When Trump moved into Venezuela, even though Britain disagreed, their Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to support it, saying the UK has long supported power transition in Venezuela. But this wasn't a transition, it was annexation. Starmer couldn't say anything against it.

France's Macron couldn't take a clear position. Germany's chancellor said the legal assessment of US intervention is complex. Italy's Prime Minister said this isn't the right way to end dictatorships. But none of these countries, UK, France, Germany, Italy, or the entire European Union, could actually challenge America or say "No, what you did is wrong." Why? Because they reduced their defense spending for years and filled their territory with American military bases, thinking Americans would always protect them.

Today they're defenseless regarding Ukraine and are begging Trump to save them. Trump knows he holds all the power. And why shouldn't he use it? He's a businessman playing his cards. This is the era of strength, not morality. Not of right and wrong and lectures, but of raw power.

The same weakness has left Europeans unable to question Trump's Greenland plans. Keir Starmer says Greenland belongs to its people, but can he actually do anything? Can Macron stop Trump? Can Germany, Italy, or Japan? No. Europe has surrendered its independence to Trump.

When Jeffrey Sachs says quit the Quad, he's really saying don't depend on security formations made by others. Depend only on ourselves, our assets, our strength, our thinking, our direction.

We're heading into difficult times. If other countries have their priorities, we must have ours. The need of the hour is twofold. First, an urgent decade of militarization. Conventional weapons, nuclear power, space technology, everything. We can't be gradual or maintain status quo with our military. The country needs to reach at least eighty percent of China's military level, or maybe equal them. If that requires sacrifice from Indians, let's say so openly. Every Indian would likely contribute willingly to make us a top military power that can face China, Russia, and the US.

Second, a decade of deep commitment to awakening a new nationalist spirit in this country. A strong nation with strong military can never be bullied. In this dangerous age of new colonialism under Trump, we can't believe Trump is just a nightmare that'll disappear. The prediction is simple: if Trump goes, there'll be another Trump. If Xi Jinping attacks Taiwan, we'll say he's worse than Trump.

This is an era of the Trumpian approach, however terrible that sounds. The Trumpian approach of might makes right can only be met with our own militaristic and nationalistic response. That's the sad truth of our times.

 

The author is a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst