New York: The photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin sharing a car in Delhi has snowballed into a political flashpoint in Washington. The photo that had gone viral was cited as evidence of strains in the India–US relationship under Donald Trump’s policies.

Putin arrived in New Delhi last week, where Modi personally received him at the Palam Air Force Station before the two leaders travelled together to the Prime Minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg. The drive — reminiscent of their earlier informal ride during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit — was widely read as a sign of warmth between New Delhi and Moscow. ADVERTISEMENT

But in the United States, the same image found its way into a congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affai

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