‘India is one of the great powers in the world’: US Deputy Secretary Landau changes tune

In an apparent bid to undo the damage from his previous remarks, US Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau on Tuesday described India as “one of the great powers in the world” and said the United States would very much like to be part of India’s success story.

In a media interaction on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Summit, Landau noted that India has the largest population in the world and is going to shape the 21st century.

“If you look at the history of the century that we’re living in, I think India is going to loom very large in this century, and we are very aware of India’s importance on the world stage,” said Landau, who earned infamy in March for declaring that the United States would not allow India to grow beyond a certain point.

In March, Landau told the who’s who of the world’s diplomatic community at the Raisina Dialogue that US President Donald Trump would not allow India to grow beyond limits set by him.

“India should understand that we’re not going to make the same mistakes that we made with China 20 years ago in terms of saying, ‘Oh, you know, we’re going to let you be able to develop all these markets and then, you know, the next thing we know is you’re beating us in a lot of commercial events’,” said Landau, leaving the gathering shocked by the brashness and the violation of unsaid diplomatic protocols.

BREAKING: “India is one of the great powers in the world. There is no question about that. India now has the greatest population in the world and probably will for the rest of our lives,” says US Deputy Secretary of State Landau pic.twitter.com/8a7iqDFyhJ

— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) May 7, 2026

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As Firstpost’s Madhur Sharma reported in a dispatch from the conference, participants—foreign ministers, diplomats, and international relations scholars— balked at Landau’s “audacity” in making such a statement about his host. They compared the speech to Vice President JD Vance’s tirade against Europe at last year’s Munich Security Conference.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Landau further said that India and the United States were “very close” to finalising the trade deal under negotiation. He added that the two sides must get over the “last hurdle” and sign the deal so they could move on to focus on other issues.

US Deputy Secretary of State changes his tune on India

“The United States would very much like to be part of India’s success story. India is going to loom very large in the history of this century. We are very aware of India’s importance on the world stage.” pic.twitter.com/MfyJdHrIUM

— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) May 7, 2026