Trump's continuous onslaught on India

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Trump has been continuously targeting India. The latest is an increase of tariffs to 50%, which obviously appears to subdue India to make it accept certain trade negotiations, which India can accept only at its peril, especially the opening of agriculture-related fields so that the USA could dump its produce into India.
Increasing pressure on India before US negotiators are expected to reach India on August 25, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled the tariffs on India to 50 percent, but there is a 21-day window before the additional tariff of 25 percent comes into effect, offering India a window to strike a trade deal.
A White House statement said that the US will impose an “additional 25 percent ad valorem duty” above the 25 percent reciprocal tariffs announced on August 1 to “deal with the national emergency stemming from Russia’s actions in Ukraine.” This tariff is deemed necessary and appropriate due to India’s “direct or indirect import of Russian Federation oil,” which the president judges will more effectively address the national emergency, the executive order said.
The additional tariffs dramatically raise pressure on India, as most of its competitors, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, and now China, are not at lower tariffs. However, exporters said that US tariff-related uncertainty is already disrupting trade and that Indian exporters have grown wary of exporting to the US. About half of India’s total exports of $80 billion are, however, in the exemption list that includes products such as pharma and electronics goods.
While the fresh order takes the total US tariffs to their highest on any country globally, it also offers a fresh window for discussion. The Indian Express had reported on Saturday that key economic ministries have been asked for inputs to sweeten the US trade deal stuck on India’s resistance to US demand for access in the Indian agri market.

“This 25 percent ad valorem duty will be effective for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time 21 days after the date of the order. There are exceptions for goods that were loaded onto a vessel and in transit before this effective date and are entered for consumption or withdrawn from the warehouse for consumption before 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 17, 2025,” the order read.

In actuality, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil, at about 2 million barrels per day, followed by India (just under 2 million a day) and Turkey. The US had agreed to lower tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 per cent from 145 per cent in May. The executive order does not make a mention of China, but instead stipulates a mechanism wherein the US Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other senior officials, “will monitor if any other country (beyond India) is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil and recommend further action”.
Indian exporters are in a fix, scrambling to retain access to the US — their most valuable export market, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of India’s total outbound shipments. The newly announced duties target several of India's top-performing export sectors, like auto components, steel, aluminum, smartphones, gems and jewellery. Pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and critical minerals, however, have been excluded.
The Indian government has said that it will safegauard its national and economic interests. Indian officials have indicated that the US is unwilling to negotiate sectoral tariffs — such as those on steel and automobiles — which have already impacted nearly $5 billion worth of Indian exports. Evan A. Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on Monday that US-India relations may now become a political football, especially in New Delhi. He warned that the core understandings that enabled closer ties may be at serious risk, as New Delhi had largely assumed Washington would take political risks to strengthen the relationship — something Trump has not done and clearly will not do.

The split in relations is further underscored by Trump’s effusive praise for Islamabad and recent engagement with Pakistan’s army and government — developments that raise obvious concerns in New Delhi. “The United States was roiled by India’s ties to Iran, Myanmar, and later Russia. Trump and his administration are now moving to sanction and tariff India over its oil trade with Russia. This significantly shifts the bar for bilateral relations,” he said. The sweeping measure, aimed at correcting what Trump described as “obnoxious” non-tariff barriers, is being seen as both a protectionist move and a pointed diplomatic signal.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

ਟਰੰਪ ਦੀਆਂ ਬੇਹੁਰਮਤੀਆਂ

ਡਾ: ਦਲਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਗ੍ਰੇਵਾਲ​

ਟਰੰਪ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਭਾਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਅੱਜ ਕੱਲ਼ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨਾ ਬਣਾ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। ਕਰਾਂ (ਟੈਰਿਫ) ਵਿੱਚ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ 25% ਤੇ ਹੁਣ ਤਾਜ਼ਾ 50% ਦਾ ਵਾਧਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਉਹ ਭਾਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਝੁਕਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਅਪਣੀ ਆਰਥਿਕਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਹਥਿਆਰ ਵਜੋਂ ਵਰਤ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। ਸਪੱਸ਼ਟ ਤੌਰ 'ਤੇ ਉਹ ਭਾਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਅਪਣੀਆਂ ਸ਼ਰਤਾਂ ਤੇ ਵਪਾਰਕ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਨੂੰ ਸਵੀਕਾਰ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਮਜਬੂਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਜਾਪਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜਿਸ ਨੂੰ ਭਾਰਤ ਸਿਰਫ ਆਪਣੇ ਜੋਖਮ' ਤੇ ਹੀ ਸਵੀਕਾਰ ਕਰ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ। ਉਹ ਚਾਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਭਾਰਤ ਖੇਤੀਬਾੜੀ, ਪਸ਼ੂਪਾਲਣ, ਮੱਛੀ ਪਾਲਣ ਅਤ ਪੋਲਟਰੀ ਫਾਰਮਿੰਗ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧਤ ਖੇਤਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਮੰਡੀਆਂ ਲਈ ਖੋਲ੍ਹੇ ਤਾਂ ਜੋ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਆਪਣੀ ਵਾਧੂ ਪੈਦਾਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਸੁੱਟ ਸਕੇ।ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਕਰਨ ਕਰਕੇ ਇਹ ਨਵੀਂ ਕਰ ਨੀਤੀ 25 ਅਗਸਤ ਨੂੰ ਲਾਗੂ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਐਲਾਨ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆਂ ਹੈ ਤਾਂ ਕਿ ਭਾਰਤ ਉਤੇ ਵਪਾਰ ਸਮਝੌਤੇ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਦਬਾਅ ਬਣਿਆ ਰਹੇ।

ਵ੍ਹਾਈਟ ਹਾਊਸ ਦੇ ਬਿਆਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਿਹਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ "ਯੂਕ੍ਰੇਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਰੂਸ ਦੀਆਂ ਕਾਰਵਾਈਆਂ ਤੋਂ ਪੈਦਾ ਹੋਈ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ ਐਮਰਜੈਂਸੀ ਨਾਲ ਨਜਿੱਠਣ" ਲਈ 1 ਅਗਸਤ ਨੂੰ ਐਲਾਨੇ ਗਏ 25 ਪ੍ਰਤੀਸ਼ਤ ਪਰਸਪਰ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਤੋਂ ਉੱਪਰ "ਵਾਧੂ 25 ਪ੍ਰਤੀਸ਼ਤ ਐਡ ਵੈਲੋਰਮ ਡਿਊਟੀ" ਲਗਾਏਗਾ। ਕਾਰਜਕਾਰੀ ਆਦੇਸ਼ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਿਹਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਇਹ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ "ਰੂਸੀ ਸੰਘ ਦੇ ਤੇਲ ਦੇ ਸਿੱਧੇ ਜਾਂ ਅਸਿੱਧੇ ਆਯਾਤ" ਕਾਰਨ ਜ਼ਰੂਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਉਚਿਤ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜਿਸ ਨਾਲ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰਪਤੀ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ ਐਮਰਜੈਂਸੀ ਨੂੰ ਵਧੇਰੇ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵਸ਼ਾਲੀ ਢੰਗ ਨਾਲ ਹੱਲ ਕਰਨਗੇ।ਵਾਧੂ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਨਾਟਕੀ ਢੰਗ ਨਾਲ ਭਾਰਤ ਉੱਤੇ ਦਬਾਅ ਵਧਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ, ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਇਸ ਦੇ ਜ਼ਿਆਦਾਤਰ ਪ੍ਰਤੀਯੋਗੀ, ਜਿਵੇਂ ਕਿ ਵੀਅਤਨਾਮ, ਬੰਗਲਾਦੇਸ਼ ਅਤੇ ਹੁਣ ਚੀਨ, ਘੱਟ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਉੱਤੇ ਨਹੀਂ ਹਨ। ਹਾਲਾਂਕਿ, ਬਰਾਮਦਕਾਰਾਂ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਨਾਲ ਸਬੰਧਤ ਅਨਿਸ਼ਚਿਤਤਾ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਹੀ ਵਪਾਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਵਿਘਨ ਪਾ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਬਰਾਮਦਕਾਰ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਨੂੰ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਕਰਨ ਤੋਂ ਸਾਵਧਾਨ ਹੋ ਗਏ ਹਨ। ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਕੁੱਲ 80 ਬਿਲੀਅਨ ਡਾਲਰ ਦੇ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਦਾ ਲਗਭਗ ਅੱਧਾ ਹਿੱਸਾ, ਹਾਲਾਂਕਿ, ਛੋਟ ਸੂਚੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੈ ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਫਾਰਮਾ ਅਤੇ ਇਲੈਕਟ੍ਰੌਨਿਕਸ ਸਮਾਨ ਵਰਗੇ ਉਤਪਾਦ ਸ਼ਾਮਲ ਹਨ।

ਇਹ ਤਾਜ਼ਾ ਆਦੇਸ਼ ਵਿਸ਼ਵ ਪੱਧਰ 'ਤੇ ਕਿਸੇ ਵੀ ਦੇਸ਼' ਤੇ ਕੁੱਲ ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਨੂੰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਉੱਚੇ ਪੱਧਰ 'ਤੇ ਲੈ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਇਸ ਲਈ ਵਿਸ਼ਵ ਪੱਧਰੀ ਚਰਚਾ ਵੀ ਚਾਲੂ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਹੈ । ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਮੁੱਖ ਆਰਥਿਕ ਮੰਤਰਾਲਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਖੇਤੀਬਾੜੀ ਬਾਜ਼ਾਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਸਪਲਾਈ ਹੋ ਜਾਣ ਦੇ ਖਤਰੇ ਦਾ ਗੰਭੀਰ ਅੀਧਐਨ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਇਹ ਸਾਹਮਣੇ ਆਇਆ ਹ ੈਕਿ ਕਿਸਾਨੀ ਵਟਗ ਹੀ ਨਹੀਨ ਸਮੁੱਚੇ ਦੇਸ਼ ਨੂੰ ਨੀਵਾਣ ਵੱਲ ਲੈ ਜਾਏਗਾ ਇਸ ਲਈ ਖਤਰਨਾਕ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਨਾਲ ਮਾਰੂ ਵੀ ਸਿ!ਧ ਹੋ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ।

ਇਸ ਨਵੇਂ ਕਾਰਜਕਾਰੀ ਆਦੇਸ਼ ਵਿੱਚ ਚੀਨ ਦਾ ਜ਼ਿਕਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ, ਬਲਕਿ ਇਸ ਦੀ ਬਜਾਏ ਇੱਕ ਵਿਧੀ ਨਿਰਧਾਰਤ ਕੀਤੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ ਜਿਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਮਰੀਕੀ ਵਣਜ ਸਕੱਤਰ, ਹੋਰ ਸੀਨੀਅਰ ਅਧਿਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਤਾਲਮੇਲ ਨਾਲ, "ਨਿਗਰਾਨੀ ਕਰੇਗਾ ਕਿ ਕੀ ਕੋਈ ਹੋਰ ਦੇਸ਼ (ਭਾਰਤ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਹਰ) ਸਿੱਧੇ ਜਾਂ ਅਸਿੱਧੇ ਤੌਰ 'ਤੇ ਰੂਸੀ ਸੰਘ ਦੇ ਤੇਲ ਦੀ ਦਰਾਮਦ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਅਗਲੇਰੀ ਕਾਰਵਾਈ ਦੀ ਸਿਫਾਰਸ਼ ਕਰੇਗਾ। ਅਸਲ ਵਿੱਚ, ਚੀਨ ਲਗਭਗ 2 ਮਿਲੀਅਨ ਬੈਰਲ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਦਿਨ, ਰੂਸੀ ਤੇਲ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਖਰੀਦਦਾਰ ਹੈ, ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਭਾਰਤ (ਸਿਰਫ 2 ਮਿਲੀਅਨ ਪ੍ਰਤੀ ਦਿਨ) ਅਤੇ ਤੁਰਕੀ ਆਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ। ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਨੇ ਮਈ 'ਚ ਚੀਨੀ ਵਸਤਾਂ' ਤੇ ਟੈਰਿਫ 145 ਫੀਸਦੀ ਤੋਂ ਘਟਾ ਕੇ 30 ਫੀਸਦੀ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਸਹਿਮਤੀ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਸੀ।

ਭਾਰਤੀ ਬਰਾਮਦਕਾਰ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਤੱਕ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਬਣਾਈ ਰੱਖਣ ਲਈ ਸੰਘਰਸ਼ ਕਰ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ-ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਕੀਮਤੀ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਬਾਜ਼ਾਰ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਕੁੱਲ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ ਜ਼ਰੀਏ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਦਾ ਲਗਭਗ 20 ਪ੍ਰਤੀਸ਼ਤ ਬਣਦਾ ਹੈ। ਨਵੀਆਂ ਐਲਾਨੀਆਂ ਗਈਆਂ ਡਿਊਟੀ ਦਰਾਂ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਕਈ ਚੋਟੀ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਖੇਤਰਾਂ, ਜਿਵੇਂ ਕਿ ਆਟੋ ਪੁਰਜ਼ਿਆਂ, ਸਟੀਲ, ਅਲਮੀਨੀਅਮ, ਸਮਾਰਟਫੋਨ, ਰਤਨ ਅਤੇ ਗਹਿਣਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨਾ ਬਣਾਉਂਦੀਆਂ ਹਨ। ਹਾਲਾਂਕਿ, ਫਾਰਮਾਸਿਊਟੀਕਲ, ਸੈਮੀਕੰਡਕਟਰ ਅਤੇ ਮਹੱਤਵਪੂਰਨ ਖਣਿਜਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬਾਹਰ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ।

ਭਾਰਤ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਉਹ ਆਪਣੇ ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਆਰਥਿਕ ਹਿੱਤਾਂ ਦੀ ਰਾਖੀ ਕਰੇਗੀ। ਭਾਰਤੀ ਅਧਿਕਾਰੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਸੰਕੇਤ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਸਟੀਲ ਅਤੇ ਆਟੋਮੋਬਾਈਲਜ਼ ਵਰਗੇ ਟੈਰਿਫ 'ਤੇ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਤਿਆਰ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ-ਜਿਸ ਨਾਲ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਹੀ ਲਗਭਗ 5 ਅਰਬ ਡਾਲਰ ਦੇ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਨਿਰਯਾਤ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵਿਤ ਹੋਏ ਹਨ। ਕਾਰਨੇਗੀ ਐਂਡੋਮੈਂਟ ਫਾਰ ਇੰਟਰਨੈਸ਼ਨਲ ਪੀਸ ਦੇ ਵਾਈਸ ਪ੍ਰੈਜ਼ੀਡੈਂਟ ਫਾਰ ਸਟੱਡੀਜ਼ ਇਵਾਨ ਏ. ਫੀਗੇਨਬੌਮ ਨੇ ਸੋਮਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ-ਭਾਰਤ ਸਬੰਧ ਖ਼ਾਸਕਰ ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੁਣ ਸਿਆਸੀ ਫੁੱਟਬਾਲ ਬਣ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ, । ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਚੇਤਾਵਨੀ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਨਜ਼ਦੀਕੀ ਸਬੰਧਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਮਰੱਥ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਮੁੱਖ ਸਮਝ ਗੰਭੀਰ ਜੋਖਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ, ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਨੇ ਵੱਡੇ ਪੱਧਰ 'ਤੇ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਸੀ ਕਿ ਵਾਸ਼ਿੰਗਟਨ ਸਬੰਧਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਰਾਜਨੀਤਿਕ ਜੋਖਮ ਚੁੱਕੇਗਾ-ਜੋ ਕਿ ਟਰੰਪ ਨੇ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਸਪੱਸ਼ਟ ਤੌਰ' ਤੇ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰੇਗਾ। ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਮੰਤਰੀ ਮੋਦੀ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਸਪਸ਼ਟ ਸ਼ਬਦਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਿਹਾ ਕਿ ਉਸ ਅਪਣੇ ਅਸੂਲਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ, ਮਛੂਆਰਿਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਪਸ਼ੂਪਾਲਣ ਦੇ ਹਿਤਾਂ ਵਿਰੁਧ ਕੋਈ ਸਮਝੌਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕਰਨਗੇ।

ਸਬੰਧਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਫੁੱਟ ਨੂੰ ਟਰੰਪ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਇਸਲਾਮਾਬਾਦ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ੰਸਾ ਅਤੇ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦੀ ਫੌਜ ਅਤੇ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਨਾਲ ਹਾਲ ਹੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੋਏ ਰੁਝੇਵਿਆਂ ਦੁਆਰਾ ਦਰਸਾਇਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ-ਜੋ ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਚਿੰਤਾਵਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਸਾਫ ਤੌਰ ਤੇ ਵਧਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ। "ਸੰਯੁਕਤ ਰਾਜ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਇਰਾਨ, ਮਿਆਂਮਾਰ ਅਤੇ ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿੱਚ ਰੂਸ ਨਾਲ ਭਾਰਤ ਦੇ ਸਬੰਧਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਖੁਸ਼ ਨਹੀਂ। ਟਰੰਪ ਅਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਾਸਨ ਹੁਣ ਰੂਸ ਨਾਲ ਤੇਲ ਵਪਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਲੈ ਕੇ ਭਾਰਤ 'ਤੇ ਪਾਬੰਦੀਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਲਗਾਉਣ ਵੱਲ ਵiਧਆ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਨਾਲ ਭਾਰਤ-ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਵਿਚਲੇ ਦੁਵੱਲੇ ਸਬੰਧਾਂ ਦੇ ਪੱਧਰ ਤੇ ਮਹੱਤਵਪੂਰਨ ਅਸਰ ਪੈ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ।

ਟ੍ਰੰਪ ਦੀ ਬੇਹਰਮਤੀਆਂ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਿਰੁੱਧ ਹੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਬਲਕਿ ਦੁਨੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਹਰ ਵੱਡੇ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੇ ਵਿਰੁਧ ਹਨ। ਉਸ ਨੇ ਰੂਸ ਵਿਰਿਹਾ।ਰੁਧ ਯੁਕਰੇਨ ਨੂੰ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਮਾਇਕ ਅਤੇ ਜੰਗੀ ਹਥਿਆਰ ਦੇ ਕੇ ਤੇ ਰੂਸ ਅਤੇ ਭਾਰਤ ਉਤੇ ਟੈਰਿਫ ਅਤੇ ਪਾਬੰਦੀਆਂ ਲਗਾ ਕੇ, ਇਜ਼ਰਾਈਲ ਨੂੰ ਹਮਾਸ, ਇਰਾਨ, ਸੀਰੀਆ ਅਤੇ ਯਮਨ ਨੂੰ ਖਤਮ ਕਰਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਦਦ ਦੇ ਕੇ; ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਨੂੰ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਿਰੁੱਧ ਲਗਾਤਾਰ ਹੱਲਾਸ਼ੇਰੀ, ਹਥਿਆਰ, ਸਹੂਲਤਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਫੰਡ ਮੁਹਈਆ ਕਰਵਾ ਕੇ ੳਤੇ ਵਿਸ਼ਵ ਵਿੱਚ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਦਾ ਰੌਲਾ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਅਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਵਧਾਈ ਹੈ ਉਸ ਲਈ ਤਾਂ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਅਪਣੇ ਦੇਸ਼ ਵਾਸੀ ਵੀ ਖਫਾ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਉਸਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਨਜ਼ਦੀਕੀ ਆਦਮੀ ਉਸਦੇ ਵਿਰੁਧ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ। ਟ੍ਰੰਪ ਕੋਈ ਇਡੀ ਵੱਡੀ ਤੋਪ ਨਹੀਂ ਜੋ ਇੱਕ ਗੋਲੇ ਨਾਲ ਸੱਭ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਰ ਦੇਵੇਗੀ। ਉਸ ਦੇ ਤਾਂ ਰਾਖਵੇਂ ਗੋਲੇ ਵੀ ਠੁੱਸ ਹੋ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ। ਇੱਕ ਅਮਰੀਕਨ ਨੇ ਠੀਕ ਹੀ ਕਿਹਾ ਸੀ ਕਿ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਕਦਰਾਂ ਕਰੇ ਵਿਸ਼ਵ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੰਬਿਆਂ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਸੀ ਹੁਣ ਉਹ ਸਭ ਕਦਰਾਂ ਕੀਮਤਾਂ ਮਿੱਟੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਿਲਾ ਦਿਤੀਆਂ ਗਈਆਂ ਹਨ ਤੇ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਹੁਣ ਦੁਨੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਕੌਡੀ ਬਰਾਬਰ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੈ।

ਟਰੰਪ ਦੀ ਦਾਦਾਗੀਰੀ ਦੇ ਵਿਰੁਧ ਭਾਰਤੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਜੁਟ ਜਾਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਅੱਜ ਤੋਂ ਹੀ ਕੋਕਾ ਕੋਲਾ, ਫੈਂਟਾ, ਥੰਮਸਅੱਪ, ਪੈਪਸੀ, ਮਕਡਾਨਲਡ, ਡੋਮੀਨੋ ਪੀਜ਼ਾ, ਬਰਗਰ ਕਿੰਗ, ਸਬਵੇ, ਪੀਜ਼ਾ ਹੱਟ ਆਦਿ ਦਾ ਬਾਈਕਾਟ ਕਰ ਦੇਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ ਹੈ।ਅਮਰੀਕਨ ਕਾਰਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਮੋਟਰ ਸਾਈਕਲਾਂ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ ਖਰੀਦਣੀਆਂ ਚਾਹੀਦੀਆਂ। ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਆਵਾਜ਼ ਅਤ ਸਮੁੱਚੀ ਵਿਰੋਧਤਾ ਟਰੰਪ ਤੱਕ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਹਿਲਾ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਸਿੱਧੇ ਰਸਤੇ ਪਾ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

India plans digital action against the USA by taking action against Amazon, Google, and other digital means that are earning money from India through advertisement and are not paying due taxes. All the money earned through the operations, including advertisement, will now be made taxable.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

One must wonder whether Mr. Modi's efforts to wine and dine the Big Two of today's world were seen as a sign of weakness rather than a proffered arm of friendship, points out R Jagannathan.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump hug as they meet at the White House, February 13, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

For a country that is soon to overtake Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, and possibly the third before the end of the decade, India punches below its weight in terms of diplomacy. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is routinely seen as a rising global leader, he has to get more done through active diplomacy. A visible personal rapport with global leaders is not a solid enough basis for conducting the kind of hard-nosed diplomacy that delivers net gains for the country. We saw this recently when, despite a seemingly close relationship with Donald Trump, he managed to deeply embarrass India by claiming that the United States had mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. Worse, we are now stuck with 25 percent tariffs on exports to the US and have been warned of further 25 percent tariffs over our ties with long-time friend Russia. Earlier, after Mr. Modi personally hosted China's Xi Jinping in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, we ended up with the Galwan clashes and the remilitarization of the India-China border. Worse, during Operation Sindoor, China fully supported Pakistan in targeting Indian air and other assets with its weapons and intelligence. In fact, one must wonder whether Mr. Modi's efforts to wine and dine the Big Two of today's world were seen as a sign of weakness rather than a proffered arm of friendship. His trademark hugs may have played well with an Indian audience, but it's unclear how world leaders interpreted them. We need to move from demonstrative style to hard substance, both in diplomacy and action. Reducing our dependence on foreign military supplies by focusing on indigenous supply chains and technology is a no-brainer. What we must ponder is whether our diplomacy so far has been more reactive than proactive. We can't just be responding to the wars and growing instability around us with mere statements. We have to make things happen and mitigate the threats, both to ourselves and the world. Our diplomacy needs an activist role, even if it is behind the scenes

IMAGE: Modi with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and China's President Xi Jinping, right, at a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. Photograph: Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin/Reuters To list just some of the challenges, there is pressure building up for us to reduce our economic and military ties to Russia. In West Asia, as Israel gets more and more isolated from Western opinion due to its actions in Gaza, France and some European Union members have recognized Palestine, and the United Kingdom may follow suit, and India will be under pressure to do something about Palestine. It will be difficult to maintain our close strategic partnerships with Israel, especially if domestic Muslim opinion—never very comfortable with the Modi government—starts piling on the pressure through opposition parties. It is not in India's interest to let either Russia or Israel be undermined too much or go down in flames. While the US will probably stand by Israel, domestic opinion in the US and Europe—especially on the political Left—is rapidly turning anti-Israel. And most of Europe and the US would not mind Russia's effective demise as a major power. In our own neighborhood, we already have a Pakistan-China axis to contend with but may soon have to add Bangladesh to the list of potential hostile powers. The fact that India has not been able to protect Hindus in Bangladesh or even seal its borders against infiltrators says a lot. One of Mr. Modi's statements that did not age well is that 'This is not the era of war.'Soon after he said this in the context of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we ended up with another West Asian war that is still ongoing and our own mini-war with Pakistan. Even in Southeast Asia, two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Thailand, were recently involved in a deadly border skirmish. One may not want war, but this doesn't quite look like an age of peace either, with every country now seeking to boost its defense capabilities. The fact that our own defense exports are booming should tell us that the scent of war is rising everywhere—after the collapse of the old world order and the rise of China. India needs to do more to help end wars while making sure that our own strategic interests are protected. It is not in our interest to see Russia diminished, for that would push it deeper into China's hands and worsen our own strategic interests.We must take an active part in defusing the Ukraine war by using people like National Security Advisor Ajit Doval (and some others, who can remain unnamed) to discuss possible ways to end the war.This cannot happen without the EU and Russia coming to some sort of agreement on how Ukraine is to be divided or governed in the future.Russia is a European power, and Europe should not have to think of it as a perpetual enemy, especially when Russia is one of the world's biggest sources of energy and critical minerals. We must ask whether Ukraine should become a neutral, non-EU/non-NATO state—as Finland was during the Cold War. Can Russia be allowed to keep troops in the Donbas region of Ukraine, which it has already annexed, as part of a diplomatic solution? In West Asia, world opinion is moving towards a two-state solution, but that will not work. A fully independent Gaza could quite easily fall into the arms of Hamas and, as a legitimate state, will be able to build up its own independent military might in addition to hosting terror assets.Solutions short of independence may have to be considered.Should Gaza be a protectorate of Israel along with one neighbouring power (Jordan?), with independence in most areas barring foreign policy and defence?The India-Bhutan relationship offers one kind of solution.India must think beyond just defence capabilities, weaving in diplomacy that enables new alliances to emerge. India could facilitate—without being overconfident of its ability to influence this shift—a slow détente between Russia and Germany (and, indirectly, the EU) to make it possible for the former to reduce its dependence on China. If Pakistan could facilitate a US-China rapprochement in the 1970s, why can't India do the same between Europe and Russia? Today, Germany and Japan are not led by men like Hitler and Hideki Tojo. If anything, that Axis of Potential Evil is led by China's Xi Jinping, Iran's ayatollahs, Pakistan's military generals, and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is dreaming of heading the next Islamic caliphate. Threats to world peace usually come from powers that want big changes in the status quo, and this does not include other rising powers like India, Indonesia, Brazil, or South Africa. None of these countries have overambitious territorial claims or a grab-what-you-can attitude.

IMAGE: Modi and Philippines President Bongbong Marcos witness the exchange of MoUs between India and the Philippines at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, August 5, 2025. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI PhotoIndia must raise its diplomatic game from passive to active, both to create a new power balance and to protect its own strategic interests. Rediff

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Sikhs and Muslims react sharply to ‘No beards; trimming hair’ orders by US Secretary of Defence Hegseth

Hegeseth addresses Generals​

The addresses by Trump and Hegseth, after top military brass were summoned from commands around the world, came as Trump has ordered U.S. troops into a growing number of cities to support deportations and suppress crime.

On September 30, 2025 U.S. Military Secretary Hegseth announced 10 new directives, including implementing physical fitness standards, bringing combat arms positions up to the "highest male standard" and ordering troops to shave their beards and cut their hair short. While generals and admirals at the meeting wouldn't be forced to take their own physical fitness test, every member of the joint force would be required to take a physical fitness test twice a year and meet height and weight standards." ‘We’re not talking hot yoga and stretching," Hegseth added.

‘No more beards’: Hegseth gives military branches 60 days to end shaving waivers for almost all US troops. The Pentagon will cease granting permanent medical shaving exemptions and end most religious exemptions that have allowed some U.S. military troops to wear beards in uniform in recent years, according to a Tuesday memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth issued the memo after lambasting a military culture that has allowed thousands of troops to sport beards in the last 15 years during his 45-minute speech Tuesday before hundreds of generals, admirals and senior enlisted troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia. The memo gives the Pentagon’s military branches 60 days to construct plans for implementing the new grooming policies and about 90 days to enforce them.

Hegseth wrote in his memo that the new standards were “not about appearance,” but instead “about survivability, interoperability, and mission execution” — including the need to wear properly-sealed protective masks in some environments — he took aim at service members’ appearance in his Tuesday speech, calling out “fat troops” and those with beards. “No more beards,” Hegseth said during the presentation, which he ordered top officers and their enlisted advisers from around the world to attend. “The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.

Hegseth has railed against bearded troops for months and ordered a military-wide review of grooming standards in March. The Army and Marine Corps tightened rules on medical shaving waivers shortly after that order. The memo issued Tuesday ends virtually all religious exemptions that have allowed some service members to wear beards in recent years, including Sikh, Norse Pagan and some Muslim troops. It instructs the Defense Department to return to pre-2010 standards, referring to the first year the Army granted an exemption to a Sikh soldier to wear a beard in uniform. The service began granting permanent religious accommodations to Sikh soldiers in 2017, and other troops have been granted religious beard waivers on a case-by-case basis since 2019. Under Hegseth’s new policy, “facial hair waivers are generally not authorized,” and those who have been granted an exemption will face “individualized reviews” and must provide documentation proving their “sincerity of the religious or sincerely held belief” to be considered for an accommodation. The policy also ends permanent shaving profiles for those who suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, or razor bumps. Current troops with razor-bump profiles can be granted shaving exemptions for up to 12 months, but they must also have a treatment plan. Those with permanent conditions will be considered for administrative separation, Hegseth wrote. Pseudofolliculitis barbae, caused by curly hairs growing back into the skin, disproportionately affect Black men and is associated with frequent shaving, according to a study by the Society of Federal Health Professionals. Army officials said in July they would help train soldiers suffering from the condition to shave properly. Hegseth said the new policy will bar military hopefuls from entering the ranks if they cannot meet his new grooming standards — including those diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae. The memo also orders all service members to complete annual training to include a mask-fit test to ensure they can achieve a proper seal on a gas or firefighting mask, he wrote. Those who refuse to comply with Hegseth’s new shaving standards or fail mask-seal tests will not be allowed to deploy, and “repeated noncompliance may result in administrative separation,” according to the memo. Hegseth’s policy allows male soldiers to wear sideburns “above ear openings” and “neatly trimmed” moustaches which cannot “extend past the mouth corners or into a respirator seal zone.”

For communities like Sikhs, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims, who are religiously mandated to maintain unshorn hair, the ban forces a direct conflict between their faith and their military career. The Sikh Coalition, a prominent advocacy group, expressed deep concern, stating the policy could compel hundreds of devout soldiers to choose between their beliefs and serving their country. Historically, Sikh soldiers have only been able to serve with their articles of faith—including turbans and beards (kesh)—since 2010 through a system of individual, hard-won waivers, which were later formalised in 2017 to create a “strong presumption" in favour of religious requests. Sikh minorities in the US military voiced strong objections to defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement mandating stricter grooming standards, including a ban on beards, long hair, and other personal expressions. “The Sikh Coalition, a group that has advocated for Sikhs in the military who want to wear visible signs of their faith, has issued a statement saying it is ‘angered and deeply concerned’ about Hegseth’s comments about grooming standards,” the organisation said. Critics, including civil rights groups and veterans, argue the policy is discriminatory and a massive rollback of religious freedom protections guaranteed by the First Amendment. They contend that the government has the burden of proving that allowing a beard substantially harms military readiness, a standard that had previously favoured accommodation.The new rules also impact Black troops who often require medical waivers for Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB), a painful skin condition caused by shaving. Medical waivers are now limited to 12 months, with a requirement for a treatment plan, after which soldiers face potential involuntary separation if the condition persists.

At the unusual meeting, addressing nearly 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted leaders, Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, also mocked servicemembers with facial hair, referring to them as "beardo-s" and "fat generals," in the presence of President Donald Trump who too in his address threatened to fire top military leaders who disagree with him while his defense secretary accused the Pentagon of suffering from weakness and "woke" decay. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the country's military elite new reforms would weed political correctness from the U.S. armed forces. The president told a packed meeting of commanders in Quantico, Virginia, "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and loose, ok?" At one point during his 72-minute address, Trump referenced a racial slur while discussing nuclear weapons. “I call it the N-word," he told his audience of mostly stone-faced officers. "There are two N-words and you can’t use either of them.” With Trump as his backstop, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth unleashed a new array of directives, telling the country's military elite that they had gone soft and his new reforms would weed out political correctness from the world's most powerful armed forces.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, railed against "decay" at the Defense Department, telling the assembled commanders he would crack down on physical fitness and grooming standards, and throw out "woke" policies. He spoke of “fat generals and admirals.”

Trump vowed to fire military leaders ''right on the spot" as he left for the high-stakes summit on Sept. 30. Echoing Trump's threats, Hegseth said if any senior officers did not resonate with his message, they should resign.

"If the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, you should do the honorable thing and resign." According to Pentagon policy memos, fitness tests will increase in frequency and intensity for active-duty troops, who must now pass twice-yearly tests. Military members will also have their body fat measured twice per year.

Troops with combat-focused jobs, such as infantrymen or tank crew members, must meet male-based test standards in their annual general fitness test, and they must also complete a "combat field test" once yearly.

Hegseth, who has long argued that women benefited from lowered fitness standards when they entered combat arms jobs during former President Barack Obama's administration, said the move "is not about preventing women from serving."

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted Trump and Hegseth for what he called empty posturing that failed to address the country's national security challenges.

“President Trump offered no national security vision, just rambling grievances and partisan attacks," Meeks said in a statement. "Even worse, his call to use U.S. cities as ‘training grounds’ for the military is chilling. This is what dictators do.""For his part, Secretary Hegseth’s rants about ‘dudes in dresses’ and other culture-war bogeymen only underscored his unfitness to lead," Meeks said. He called for Hegseth to resign over his "overall lack of professionalism and experience."

Trump told the assembled generals and admirals of his plans to take on "the enemy within" using military power.

"Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances," he said. "So this is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it's the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control."

Using street crime and anti-deportation protests as his justification, Trump has ordered National Guard troops to Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Memphis and Portland. He also ordered active-duty Marines to Los Angeles.

Retired Lt. Gen Mark Hertling said Trump's speech was "somewhat shocking" and "filled with mistruths."

Hertling, the former commander of Army forces in Europe, said, "I found my mouth open. I just couldn't believe some of the things that were being said to this group of individuals who have such experience." "I find it really offensive that anyone is insulting them, and claiming that their promotions and their advancement through the services are the result of policies or 'wokeness' or DEI," Hertling said. "It's just not true." Trump told U.S. military leaders at Quantico on Sept. 30 that he refers to the nuclear threat as the “N-word,” referencing a racial slur.

The president noted he sent nuclear submarines “over to the coast of Russia” in response to provocative comments by a Russian spokesperson referencing a nuclear control system.

“We can’t let people throw around that word,” Trump said. “I call it the N-word. There are two N-words and you can’t use either of them.”

Hegseth's remarks dovetailed with his long-held views − the subject of his 2024 book, The War on Warriors − that diversity initiatives, political correctness and a perceived lowering of standards on behalf of women made the military weaker.

At the Quantico meeting, Hegseth said those convictions led him to fire a number of top officers, an apparent allusion to the abrupt retirements of Joint Chiefs chairman Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the top lawyers of the Army and Air Force, and Army Gen. Timothy Haugh of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, among others.

"It's nearly impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create, or even benefitted from, that culture," Hegseth said, explaining he has attempted to spare officers who were merely complying with the previous administration's orders and to fire those who "are truly invested in the 'Woke Department.'"

Days after he dispatched the National Guard to Portland, Trump said “dangerous cities” should be used as military “training grounds.”

“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” Trump said.

Trump has already deployed the National Guard to the southern border, to Los Angeles to quell protests against mass deportations, and to the streets of Washington, DC, where many are now tasked with "beatification" projects like picking up trash and raking leaves. "Washington, DC, went from our most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month," he told the Quantico audience.

These statements struck Mark Cancian, a senior defense advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as worrisome.

"If he puts out some directive specifying that the military should use lethal force, then that could be a huge problem," Cancian said. "The military is just not trained in the nuances about civilian rights and the use of lethal force," he added.

The audience was made up of men and women of various ages in military uniforms with neat haircuts. Pool reports indicate the crowd was much more still and quiet than what Trump is accustomed to at political events or campaign rallies.

Several officers were sitting in a row, looking expressionless and inscrutable, with few smiles.

The president's attacks on former President Joe Biden were met with silence, the pool report said. Some of Trump's lines elicited polite ripples of laughter. One man in a Navy uniform was taking notes in a book. Another was rolling his head and looking restless as the president railed against the media.

Trump praised the generals as “incredible people” straight out of “central casting.”

He said it was his idea to make the Defense Department’s name the War Department, a name it carried before it was changed in the years after World War II.

“That was probably the first sign of wokeness,” he said of the name change.

Hundreds of the U.S. military's seniormost officers and enlisted troops attended the event, including top generals from around the world.

The Pentagon did not provide an attendee list.

A camera pan during Hegseth's remarks appeared to capture two of the military's most far-flung brass in the auditorium: Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, who leads American and United Nations forces in South Korea, and Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, who heads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from his Hawaii headquarters.

Many other top generals also appeared on the official video feed, including U.S. Northern Command leader Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, who oversees the military's work along the Mexico border and its immigration enforcement support; Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, who heads U.S. Special Operations Command; and Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, who oversees the nation's nuclear {censored}nal atop U.S. Strategic Command.

On just a week's notice, Hegseth mandated all senior commanders at the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral lower half and above to report to the Virginia base around 40 miles south of Washington, DC. President Donald Trump revealed days before the meeting that he would also address the generals.
Defense experts said the volume of top generals and their entourages descending on the base and the small town it surrounds was likely to create traffic snarls and a security nightmare. Beginning the day before the meeting, "residents can expect increased security checks, altered traffic patterns and increased security personnel," read a public notice on the town of Quantico's Facebook page.

The cost of the meeting – bringing the senior officers and their staff to Quantico, lodging them, and securing the area – could add up to millions of dollars, experts told USA TODAY.

"A thing like this has never been done before because they came from all over the world and there’s a little bit of expense, not much, but there’s a little expense for that," Trump said of the unprecedented meeting.

Democratic lawmakers and other critics blasted the meeting as a waste of money and said taking the nation's top generals off their jobs for a pep rally-type event was a bad idea.
​

 

[Warriorlight]

Trump has been continuously targeting India. The latest is an increase of tariffs to 50%, which obviously appears to subdue India to make it accept certain trade negotiations, which India can accept only at its peril, especially the opening of agriculture-related fields so that the USA could dump its produce into India.
Increasing pressure on India before US negotiators are expected to reach India on August 25, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled the tariffs on India to 50 percent, but there is a 21-day window before the additional tariff of 25 percent comes into effect, offering India a window to strike a trade deal.
A White House statement said that the US will impose an “additional 25 percent ad valorem duty” above the 25 percent reciprocal tariffs announced on August 1 to “deal with the national emergency stemming from Russia’s actions in Ukraine.” This tariff is deemed necessary and appropriate due to India’s “direct or indirect import of Russian Federation oil,” which the president judges will more effectively address the national emergency, the executive order said.
The additional tariffs dramatically raise pressure on India, as most of its competitors, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh, and now China, are not at lower tariffs. However, exporters said that US tariff-related uncertainty is already disrupting trade and that Indian exporters have grown wary of exporting to the US. About half of India’s total exports of $80 billion are, however, in the exemption list that includes products such as pharma and electronics goods.
While the fresh order takes the total US tariffs to their highest on any country globally, it also offers a fresh window for discussion. The Indian Express had reported on Saturday that key economic ministries have been asked for inputs to sweeten the US trade deal stuck on India’s resistance to US demand for access in the Indian agri market.

“This 25 percent ad valorem duty will be effective for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time 21 days after the date of the order. There are exceptions for goods that were loaded onto a vessel and in transit before this effective date and are entered for consumption or withdrawn from the warehouse for consumption before 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 17, 2025,” the order read.

In actuality, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil, at about 2 million barrels per day, followed by India (just under 2 million a day) and Turkey. The US had agreed to lower tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 per cent from 145 per cent in May. The executive order does not make a mention of China, but instead stipulates a mechanism wherein the US Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other senior officials, “will monitor if any other country (beyond India) is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil and recommend further action”.
Indian exporters are in a fix, scrambling to retain access to the US — their most valuable export market, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of India’s total outbound shipments. The newly announced duties target several of India's top-performing export sectors, like auto components, steel, aluminum, smartphones, gems and jewellery. Pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and critical minerals, however, have been excluded.
The Indian government has said that it will safegauard its national and economic interests. Indian officials have indicated that the US is unwilling to negotiate sectoral tariffs — such as those on steel and automobiles — which have already impacted nearly $5 billion worth of Indian exports. Evan A. Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on Monday that US-India relations may now become a political football, especially in New Delhi. He warned that the core understandings that enabled closer ties may be at serious risk, as New Delhi had largely assumed Washington would take political risks to strengthen the relationship — something Trump has not done and clearly will not do.

The split in relations is further underscored by Trump’s effusive praise for Islamabad and recent engagement with Pakistan’s army and government — developments that raise obvious concerns in New Delhi. “The United States was roiled by India’s ties to Iran, Myanmar, and later Russia. Trump and his administration are now moving to sanction and tariff India over its oil trade with Russia. This significantly shifts the bar for bilateral relations,” he said. The sweeping measure, aimed at correcting what Trump described as “obnoxious” non-tariff barriers, is being seen as both a protectionist move and a pointed diplomatic signal.

For a president who maintains overly friendly ties with Netanyahu, a leader responsible for the deliberate holocaust of thousands of children and civilians in Gaza, this move is hardly surprising. Fairness and moral consideration cannot be expected from such leadership. Similarly, Prime Minister Modi, given his track record as the Butcher of Gujarat, cannot be assumed to act independently of external pressures. Politics today is ruthlessly driven by power, often at the expense of innocent lives, and it is sad that ordinary, decent people in India may now bear the consequences of decisions made by those indifferent to human suffering.

It must be acknowledged that the US has crossed into police-state territory. Troops patrolling cities, stripping religious freedoms in the military, and threatening civilians show that basic rights and freedoms are being sidelined. This isn’t security, it’s authoritarian control, and it must be challenged. History proves That governments often chip away at freedoms incrementally, gradually exposing citizens to unchecked authority.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

The agreement addresses non-tariff barriers and promotes increased trade in technology products and cooperation between the two countries.

Key Points

• The US has removed additional import duties on India following commitments to reduce Russian oil imports and expand defense cooperation.
• The interim trade pact aims to open a USD 30 trillion market for Indian exporters, particularly MSMEs, farmers, and fishermen.
• India will reduce or eliminate tariffs on US industrial goods, food, and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains and tree nuts.

India and the US on Saturday announced that they have reached a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade.

The framework reaffirms the two countries' commitment to the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, according to a joint statement.

While the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent from the present 50 percent, India will eliminate or cut down import duties on all US industrial goods and a wide range of American food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine, and spirits.

The first phase of the pact is expected to be signed by mid-March. Implementation of the pact will lead to concessions and the elimination of duties on American goods by India.

The US, through a separate executive order, has eliminated the 25 percent tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil from February 7, as New Delhi has committed to stopping directly or indirectly importing oil from Moscow.

Trump's order has said that the US officials will monitor whether India resumes directly or indirectly importing Russian oil.

If it finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing the oil, the US officials shall recommend "whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of India," the order said.
The reciprocal tariff of 25 percent will be reduced to 18 percent after the US issues an executive order in this regard, which is expected soon.

The statement also said that India has expressed its intention to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.

"The US and India are pleased to announce that they have reached a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade," it said.

On the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the interim trade pact will strengthen 'Make in India' by opening up new opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs and create jobs for women and youngsters.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the interim pact will open a USD 30 trillion market for Indian exporters, especially MSMEs, farmers, and fishermen, as the US duties on Indian goods will come down to 18 percent from 50 percent earlier.

When asked about the oil issue, Goyal said that the external affairs ministry will respond to the matter.

In August last year, the US imposed 25 percent reciprocal tariffs and an additional 25 percent levy on India for its purchase of Russian oil, hitting Indian exporters hard as America is their largest export destination.

The reduction in tariffs will help boost exports of India's labor-intensive sectors such as textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home decor, artisanal products, and certain machinery.

Additionally, tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts, thereby further enhancing India's export competitiveness and Make in India.

India will also get exemptions under Section 232 on aircraft parts, tariff rate quotas on auto parts, and negotiated outcomes on generic pharmaceuticals, leading to tangible export gains in these sectors.​

"At the same time, the agreement reflects India's commitment to safeguarding farmers' interests and sustaining rural livelihoods by completely protecting sensitive agricultural and dairy products, including maize, wheat, rice, soya, poultry, milk, cheese, ethanol (fuel), tobacco, certain vegetables, meat, etc.," Goyal said.

Under the pact, India will eliminate import duties on certain US goods on the day the agreement comes into force, while duties on other items may be phased out over time. In some sectors, tariffs will be reduced, while in others, quota-based concessions will be provided.

Hailing the agreement, US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said President Donald Trump's dealmaking is unlocking one of the largest economies in the world for American workers and producers.

The joint statement also said that the two countries will "promptly" implement this framework and work towards finalizing the interim agreement with a view to concluding a mutually beneficial Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

In February last year, the two nations entered into negotiations for the first phase of the BTA. This framework will now be converted into a legal pact, which is expected to be signed by mid-March, following which India will start cutting down duties on specified American goods.

After the successful conclusion of the interim pact, tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of Indian goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and certain aircraft and aircraft parts.

"Similarly, consistent with the US national security requirements, India will receive a preferential tariff rate quota for automotive parts subject to the tariff imposed to eliminate threats to national security," the statement said.

It added that New Delhi has agreed to address long-standing barriers to the trade in US medical devices, eliminate restrictive import licensing procedures that delay market access for, or impose quantitative restrictions on American Information and Communication Technology goods.

"Recognizing the importance of working together to resolve long-standing concerns, India also agrees to address long-standing non-tariff barriers to the trade in US food and agricultural products," the statement said.

India and the US will also significantly increase trade in technology products, including graphics processing units and other goods used in data centers, and expand joint technology cooperation.

To enhance ease of compliance with applicable technical regulations, the two countries plan to discuss their respective standards and conformity assessment procedures for mutually agreed sectors.

During 2021-25, the US was India's largest trading partner in goods. The US accounts for about 18 percent of India's total exports, 6.22 percent in imports, and 10.73 percent in bilateral trade. In 2024-25, the bilateral trade touched USD 186 billion (USD 86.5 billion in exports and USD 45.3 billion in imports).

With America, India had a trade surplus—or the difference between imports and exports—of USD 41 billion in 2024-25. It was USD 35.32 billion in 2023-24 and USD 27.7 billion in 2022-23.

Goyal added that India's exports worth about USD 44 billion to the US will enter the American market at zero reciprocal tariffs under the agreement.

While Indian goods worth about USD 30 billion will continue to attract an 18 per cent tariff (which includes goods from the labor-intensive sectors), there will be no change in duties on goods worth USD 12 billion (including steel, copper, and certain auto parts).

Commenting on the deal, the Congress claimed that the Indo-US trade pact is "not a deal but a surrender" of the country's self-esteem and interests and that it is a betrayal of India and its people.

Congress's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said India will soon become a dumping ground for American products that will hurt the interests of the farmers and small and medium industries here.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Farmer groups slam India-US trade deal, call nationwide strike on Feb 12​

Source: PTI
February 08, 2026 00:13 IST
Farmer organisations such as SKM are protesting the India-US trade deal, fearing negative impacts on Indian agriculture

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Key Points​

• The SKM alleges the trade agreement is a 'total surrender' of Indian agriculture to American corporations and demands the Commerce Minister's resignation.
• Protests are planned across India, including burning effigies of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Concerns were raised about the deal opening Indian markets to US agricultural products like dried distillers' grains and soybean oil, potentially harming the dairy sector.
• Farmers are calling for a nationwide strike on February 12 to protest the trade deal and other issues.

Several farmer organizations, including SKM, its non-political breakaway faction, and AIKS, criticized the India-US trade deal on Saturday and said protests against it will be held across the country.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) alleged that the proposed interim trade agreement framework between India and the United States amounted to a "total surrender" of Indian agriculture to American multinational corporations and demanded the immediate resignation of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Addressing an online press conference, SKM leaders said protests would be held across the country in villages, and they would burn effigies of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The SKM also extended its support to the February 12 general strike.
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader Krishna Prasad said the trade deal will have a deep impact on the agriculture sector by opening markets for items like dried distillers' grains, red sorghum for animal feed, and soybean oil, and also claimed it would impact the dairy sector.
He said the deals with the US, as well as the European Union (EU), were being done to benefit their "stagnant" economies and are not beneficial for India.
Activist Sunilam said the issue should be debated in Parliament.
Krantikari Kisan Union (Punjab) leader Darshan Pal said members of the outfit would burn effigies of Trump and Modi in protest.
He said the deal will further impact farmers who are already facing issues of low income and are unable to pay loans.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said people in the villages are questioning how the deals will impact them.
He called upon farmers to join the protest against the deals.
In a statement, the SKM said, "The framework is an abject rejection of the claim of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal that the agriculture and dairy sectors are out of the free trade agreements and the Government of India will not make any compromise on the interests of agriculture."
"The commerce minister is consciously propagating falsehood and betraying the farmers and the entire people. SKM considers the role of the commerce minister as a traitor and demands his immediate resignation," the SKM said.
"Also, SKM demands that the prime minister desist from signing the India-US Free Trade Agreement or face massive pan-India united mass struggles," it said.
The SKM appealed to all the political parties, farmers and agricultural workers' organizations, trade unions, and all the mass and class organizations to join the protest demonstrations on the February 12 general strike.
The SKM (Non-Political) also said in a statement that it would soon hold a meeting and announce large-scale protests against the India-US free trade agreement, adding that Indian farmers will not tolerate any such agreement.
According to the statement, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said that while Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is tweeting that agriculture and the dairy sector will be protected, the India-US joint statement says that India has agreed to discuss and resolve non-tariff barriers imposed on US agricultural and food products.
Dallewal said these two positions are contradictory, and the joint statement makes it clear that under US pressure, the Indian government has agreed to open Indian markets to American agricultural products, which will cause severe losses to Indian farmers.
India and the US announced on Saturday that they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost the two-way trade.
According to the deal, while Washington will reduce the tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent from the present 50 percent, New Delhi will eliminate or cut down import duties on all US industrial goods and a wide range of American food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine, and spirits.
According to a joint statement, India has expressed its intention to purchase US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal worth $500 billion over the next five years.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and sectoral federations and associations have announced a one-day general strike on February 12 against the imposition of the labour codes and the trade deals.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Trump has bewildered the world with obscure ideas of dominating the wealth of the world through his tariff threats and by forcibly capturing the president of Venezuela. Trump's actions have caused grave concern to the entire world. Trump's confrontation with NATO allies over Greenland has brought the coalition to a breaking point. Canada's PM Mark Carney calls for a Middle Power Coalition including the EU, Japan, and Australia. Iran has been under continuous threat from the US flotilla. India has been burdened with additional tariffs in an attempt to force him to stop purchasing oil from Russia and force India to agree to agriculture and poultry exports.
Donald Trump's declarations and actions have caused grave concern to the entire world. President Trump's determined effort to reorder the world is the most important concern of humanity today, and it should be closely followed as part of any study of the world.

In the place of a democracy committed to the rule of law and the United Nations, we now have a country under Trump building a power-based system, where alliances are viewed as subscription services and trade as a tool for strategic coercion.

Benign multilateralism has given way to transactional nationalism dictated by a policy of gaining control of resources by taking over countries and territories through threat or use of force.
Together with the imposition of tariffs as a weapon, the US is turning the world topsy-turvy.

A bewildered world is at a loss to find bilateral and multilateral measures to stop President Trump from pursuing his vision of a world unabashedly dominated by the United States.

At the beginning of his presidency, Trump announced his interest in establishing control of the Panama Canal, Greenland, and even Canada, much to the consternation of the world. In a swift military action, the US captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them to trial in a New York court on drug charges.​

The vice president was given charge, but there are reports of differences between her and the Americans.

The US has promised to get the oil industry in Venezuela back on track, and there is expectation among the people of Venezuela that they will be prosperous again.

There is hardly any resistance to the US domination of Venezuela, and Trump's first invasion of an oil-rich country appears to have succeeded.

Trump's next step was to reclaim Greenland on the grounds that Greenland was handed over to Denmark after the war and that Greenland is absolutely essential for the security of the US.

Trump faced unanimous rejection of the proposal during the Davos summit 2026 and was forced to withdraw his plans to impose additional tariffs on eight European countries, who opposed annexation of Greenland by the US.

Trump has already withdrawn from several multilateral arrangements designed to support the Global Commons to assert its sovereignty.
The establishment of a Board of Peace under his own permanent chairmanship to administer Gaza with his nominees, willing to pay a huge membership fee, is a move to find an alternative to the United Nations with far-reaching consequences.

Many invitees to the board have not responded, but some others have joined in the hope of appeasing Trump.

But the strategic unpredictability has turned the global economy into a marketplace with high control but low stability.

The national security and defence strategy unveiled by Trump is based on strength for peace, rather than cooperation.

Trump has also begun to make deals with individual countries, bypassing Brussels.

At Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada took the bull by the horns and declared the present situation as a rupture, not a transformation.

He declared that the period of economic integration with mutual support is over.

Carney called for a Middle Power Coalition, including the EU, Japan, and Australia, large enough to resist pressure from either Washington or Beijing.

He said that the new coalition should have a place at the table to avoid being on the menu.

Carney rebuffed the 'Donroe' doctrine and the invitation to join the board of peace, considering it a real estate-driven venture rather than a diplomatic one.

He called for strategic autonomy not only politically but also in securing resources.

The Canadian challenge is the only forthright rejection of Trump's world view, which may have an impact.

But Trump's latest threat to invade Iran indicates that he will continue to pursue his dreams of a strength-based world order.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

The following are the key highlights of a framework that India has reached for an interim trade agreement with the US. Both countries have issued a joint statement in this regard.

• US cuts tariffs on India to 18 percent from 50 percent earlier
• This will open a USD 30 trillion market for Indian exporters, especially MSMEs, farmers and fishermen
• The increase in exports will create lakhs of new job opportunities for our women and youth
• As part of this framework, the US will slash reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent.

Key Points​

• US to slash reciprocal tariffs to 18 pc
• Zero tariff on generic pharma, gems and diamonds
• India to buy $500 bn of US energy products

• The framework will provide a huge market opportunity in key sectors such as textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber products, organic chemicals, home decor, artisanal products and select machinery
• Tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts
• India will get exemptions under Section 232 on aircraft parts, tariff rate quota on auto parts and negotiated outcomes on generic pharmaceuticals
• India completely protects sensitive agri- and dairy products, including maize, wheat, rice, soya, poultry, milk, cheese, ethanol (fuel), tobacco, certain vegetables and meat
• India to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products
• Both countries commit to provide each other preferential market access in sectors of respective interest on a sustained basis
• The two will establish rules of origin that ensure that the benefits of the agreement accrue predominately to US and India
• The US and India will address non-tariff barriers that affect bilateral trade
• India agrees to address long-standing barriers to the trade in US medical devices and eliminate restrictive import licensing procedures that delay market access for, or impose quantitative restrictions on, US Information and Communication Technology goods
• US and India intend to discuss their respective standards and conformity assessment procedures for mutually agreed sectors
• In the event of any changes to the agreed-upon tariffs of either country, US and India agree that the other country may modify its commitments
• The two will work towards further expanding market access opportunities through negotiations under the bilateral trade agreement
• US and India agree to strengthen economic security alignment to enhance supply chain resilience and innovation through complementary actions to address non-market policies of third parties
• India intends to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years
• India and US will significantly increase trade in technology products, including Graphics Processing Units and other goods used in data centres, and expand joint technology cooperation
• US and India commit to address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade
• US and India will promptly implement this framework and work towards finalising the interim agreement with a view to concluding a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement

Source: PTI

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

 

[Warriorlight]

Trump is clearly a Satanist and/or a Pedophile. He was friends with Epstein and has run in some very questionable circles. The Epstein case has Clearly shown humans the way the elite, royals and governments work. Yet many continue to close their eyes and continue to watch the elite funded and controlled media/ news.

The problem with society is that they're too trusting of governments, royals and 'authority'. Guru Nanak Dev Ji clearly told us that in the Kalyug the Kings (royals, govts, richest billionaires and trillonaires etc) are Butchers. They are the worst type of modern day mafia possible, how do you think they keep the mafia itself in control or get into positions of power, with hugs, butterflies and people letting them step up. They do not step up to power, they step ON people to get power. Pedophilia, satanism, murder are used as control. They are Psychopaths. This is the state of the leaders in the Kalyug. They are the Worst type of human beings possible- just look at King Charles and his bestie Jimmy Saville, Britains worst pedophile and a documented Satanist. And MI5, Charles/ Queen/ Royals didnt know?? Satanisms biggest belief is in human sacrifice and cannibalism of Babies- and you don't think Saville and his bestie Charles practiced these? This is the Reality.

This 1 cable that runs the entire world bombed Harmandir Sahib- they gave the order to Indira Gandhi who was a shoe shiner for them, nothing less.

The Gurus answered to No Human, only God. God is the Only Authority, all others are man made and false. Would the Gurus have trusted or followed any 'leader' who massacre tens of thousands of babies in cold blood.

Humans need to open their eyes instead of being lambs to the slaughter and following evil people who are on par with the Mughuls. Trump hugged Netanyahu AFTER he massacred in cold blood more than 20000 children and babies in the worst Holocaust since Germany. This was the SAME as if he had hugged Hitler. Is that not the very definition of Satanism/ Satanic activity? The world is Not what it seems.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Trump backtracks on Taiwan independence after China visit​

Source: ANI -
May 16, 2026 14:33 IST
Donald Trump's recent statements suggest a possible shift in US policy towards Taiwan, raising questions about America's commitment to defending the island's independence after high-level talks with China.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump is greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, on May 15, 2026. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Pool/Reuters

Key Points​

• Donald Trump signals a potential shift in US policy towards Taiwan after his visit to China.
• Trump cautions Taiwan against pursuing formal independence, citing logistical and military challenges for the US.
• Xi Jinping emphasises the Taiwan question as the most important issue in China-US relations.
• China warns that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to clashes and conflict with the US.
• Trump states he would like to see Taiwan remain as it is, without declaring independence.

Following his visit to China, United States President Donald Trump has suggested a potential shift in Washington, DC's approach to Taiwan, expressing reluctance to engage in military conflict over Taiwan's independence and cautioning against unilateral moves.
Speaking during an interview with Fox News following his visit, Trump explicitly cautioned Taiwan against pursuing formal independence, framing the island's defence as a staggering logistical and military challenge for the United States.
"I'm not looking to have somebody go independent, and we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," Trump said.
Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping's longstanding position on Taiwan, Trump said the issue has always been Beijing's 'most important thing' and indicated that he believed China would prefer maintaining the current arrangement rather than facing a declaration of independence from Taiwan.
"It has always been his most important thing from the day I knew him years ago. It's always been the biggest thing for him, Taiwan," the US President said.
"If you kept it the way it is, I think China is going to be okay with that. We are not looking to have somebody say, "Let's go independent because the United States is backing us," he added.
The US President further claimed that Taiwan's current leadership was moving towards independence under the assumption that Washington would support it militarily.
"They are going independent because they want to get into a war, and they figure they have the United States behind them. I would like to see it stay the way it is," Trump stated.
His comments come amid longstanding US strategic ambiguity on Taiwan.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan and provides defensive support while officially adhering to the 'One China' policy, recognising the People's Republic of China diplomatically.
According to US Congressional records, the Trump administration's 2025 National Security Strategy stated that 'deterring a conflict over Taiwan' remains a priority while reaffirming that the United States 'does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait'.

China's Perspective on Taiwan​

During his talks with Trump, the Chinese President stated that the Taiwan question remains the 'most important issue' in China-US relations and warned that mishandling it could lead to clashes and conflict between the two countries.
According to a statement issued by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Xi stressed during discussions with Trump that the future stability of bilateral ties depends heavily on how the Taiwan issue is managed.
'President Xi stressed to President Trump that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations. If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,' the statement said.

China's Opposition to Taiwan Independence​

Xi also reiterated Beijing's strong opposition to Taiwan independence, describing it as incompatible with peace across the Taiwan Strait.
"Taiwan independence" and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the US,' the statement added.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Will continue purchasing Russian oil regardless of...: India​

Source: PTI
May 18, 2026 20:14 IST
The petroleum ministry official said India's crude sourcing decisions were driven primarily by commercial considerations and adequate supply availability.

Key Points​

• India's crude sourcing decisions are driven by commercial considerations and supply availability.
• Discounted Russian crude has become a core component of India's oil import basket since 2022.
• India ensures compliance with sanctions by avoiding sanctioned entities and using compliant channels.
• Analysts expect India to continue importing Russian crude, focusing on documentation and screening.

India has been purchasing Russian oil irrespective of US sanctions waivers and will continue to do so based on commercial viability and energy security needs, a senior petroleum ministry official said on Monday.
"Regarding the American waiver on Russia, I would like to emphasise that we have been purchasing from Russia earlier... before the waiver also, during the waiver also, and now also," Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the petroleum ministry, told reporters at a media briefing.

India's oil sourcing strategy​

Sharma said India's crude sourcing decisions were driven primarily by commercial considerations and adequate supply availability.
"It is basically the commercial sense which should be there for us to purchase," she said, adding that there was no shortage of crude supplies and enough volumes had been tied up through long-term arrangements.
A temporary US sanctions waiver allowing the sale and delivery of Russian seaborne crude expired on May 16, marking the second time Washington has allowed the relief measure to lapse without clarity on an extension.
The general licence, first issued by the US Treasury Department in mid-March and extended in April, was meant to ease pressure in global energy markets after the US-Israeli war against Iran triggered the largest-ever oil supply disruption.
"Whatever the waiver or no waiver, it (availability) will not be affected," Sharma said.
Rise of Russian crude in India's oil imports
Discounted Russian crude had risen to become the core of India's oil import basket since 2022, when Moscow's invasion of Ukraine triggered sweeping Western sanctions and disrupted Russia's traditional export markets.
India, the world's third-largest crude importer and consumer, sharply increased purchases of Russian oil to take advantage of lower prices, helping domestic refiners manage elevated global energy costs.
US and European countries slapped sweeping sanctions on Russia for its February 2022 invasion, but Russian oil itself was never sanctioned.

Ensuring compliance with sanctions​

In recent months, the US sanctioned certain Russian entities, including its largest crude oil suppliers—Rosneft and Lukoil—vessels and financial channels. Even then Russia remained off the sanctions list. This meant Russia continued to be a core supplier for India, with procurement strictly ensuring no involvement of sanctioned sellers or intermediaries, use of non-sanctioned vessels, and fully compliant financial, insurance, and trading channels.
This led to a brief moderation in purchases last year, but the waivers led to Indian refiners stepping up purchases again.
Russian oil imports into India are expected to average close to 1.9 million barrels per day in May, according to data from Kpler, near record levels. The figures include shipments covered under a temporary US sanctions waiver that expired over the weekend.
The continued flow of Russian crude comes even as Brent prices remain more than 50 per cent above pre-war levels, reinforcing India's push to secure cheaper supplies amid global market volatility.
Analysts said India is unlikely to move away from Russian crude in the near term. More documentation and tighter screening are expected rather than a structural shift in sourcing.
Source: PTI - Edited By: Senjo M R© Copyright 2026 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Trump-Xi Rapprochement: Time For India To Be Cautious​

May 21, 2026 09:52 IST
India would confront a more entrenched China, a less dependable United States, and a regional order increasingly shaped by great-power bargaining over which it exercises limited influence, notes Amberish K Diwanji.

IMAGE: US President Donald John Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, May 14, 2026. Photograph: Kenny Holston/Pool via Reuters

Key Points​

• Xi Jinping invoked the Thucydides Trap theory to frame US-China rivalry within broader historical power transition dynamics.
• Graham Allison's 2017 book argued rising powers and dominant states face structural pressures that can trigger major conflict.
• India's strategic relevance to Washington increased significantly during years of intensifying US-China geopolitical and economic competition.
• China's military, technological, and economic dominance has widened the asymmetry confronting India's long-term strategic calculations.
• A possible US-China accommodation could reduce India's importance within Washington's broader Indo-Pacific strategic framework and priorities.

During United States President Donald Trump's visit to China, his counterpart, Xi Jinping, posed a pointed rhetorical question: 'Can China and the United States transcend the so-called 'Thucydides Trap' and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?'
Xi's invocation of Thucydides was deliberate. The ancient Greek historian, in History of the Peloponnesian War, famously argued that 'it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.'
Over time, this observation evolved into one of the foundational propositions of realist international relations theory: When a rising power threatens to displace an established hegemon, systemic instability -- and often war—follows.
The concept re-entered contemporary strategic discourse after political scientist Graham Allison published Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? in 2017.
Allison argued that history offers sobering precedents: In 16 cases over the past five centuries where an emerging power challenged a dominant one, 12 culminated in major conflict.
His thesis was not deterministic, but cautionary. Structural rivalry, he argued, creates immense pressures toward confrontation unless consciously managed.
By the time Allison's book appeared, the geopolitical context was already clear.
After nearly three decades of unipolarity following the Cold War, China had emerged as the only State with the economic, military, and technological capacity to seriously contest American primacy.
Beijing's rise transformed the international system from one defined by uncontested US dominance into one increasingly characterised by strategic competition.
Yet Allison's argument has often been oversimplified. The central point of Destined for War was not that conflict between Washington and Beijing was inevitable, but that it could be avoided if both powers accommodated certain strategic realities.
Implicitly, this required the United States to accept that China's rise could not indefinitely be contained.
Trump's recent engagement with Xi appeared, at least superficially, to suggest movement in precisely that direction. The symbolism of detente matters.
If Washington is gradually reconciling itself to a China that exercises legitimate great-power influence—perhaps even regional primacy in parts of Asia -- the implications for India are profound.

IMAGE: Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend a press conference at the White House, February 13, 2025. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
The origins of the modern Indo-US strategic partnership are inseparable from American concerns about China.
In a 2000 Foreign Affairs article, Condoleezza Rice -- who would serve as secretary of state in the George W. Bush cabinet—warned that China represented a potential challenge to stability in the Asia-Pacific and argued that the United States should cultivate stronger ties with India, which she identified as a prospective great power.
The logic was unmistakable: India could serve as a democratic counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.
Successive American administrations operationalised this thinking. The George W Bush administration invested heavily in transforming India-US relations, most notably through the civil nuclear agreement.
Under Barack Obama, the 'Asia Pivot' further elevated India's strategic relevance.
Donald Trump's first administration popularised the 'Indo-Pacific' framework, linguistically and geopolitically embedding India into Washington's Asian strategy. Joe Biden largely sustained this trajectory through mechanisms such as the Quad.
India benefited considerably from this geopolitical environment. As US-China rivalry intensified, New Delhi acquired greater strategic salience.
Some Indian analysts even suggested that India could emulate Cold War-era China by leveraging competition between rival great powers to maximise its own autonomy and influence.

India's China Challenge Deepens​

But this analogy was always flawed. Maoist China in the 1970s possessed far greater strategic leverage vis-a-vis both Washington and Moscow than contemporary India enjoys vis-a-vis Washington and Beijing.
Today, India is not balancing between two superpowers from a position of strength; rather, it increasingly seeks American support to manage the widening asymmetry with China.
That asymmetry is now stark. China's economic size, military modernisation, technological capabilities, and manufacturing dominance place it in an altogether different league.
Moreover, the deepening China-Pakistan strategic partnership creates a two-front challenge for India that significantly complicates New Delhi's security calculus.
In such circumstances, India's strategic dependence on the United States—however reluctantly acknowledged—becomes difficult to avoid.
This vulnerability is amplified if Beijing seeks a more assertive role in South Asia.
China has already demonstrated a willingness to comment on India-Pakistan disputes and expand its political footprint across India's neighbourhood through infrastructure investments, economic diplomacy, and security partnerships.
Any tacit American acceptance of a larger Chinese sphere of influence in Asia would therefore generate considerable anxiety in New Delhi.
Compounding these concerns is the unpredictability of Trump's second term. Unlike the strategic convergence that characterised much of the Bush, Obama, and Biden years, Trump's approach towards India has been markedly transactional and at times openly abrasive.
Following Operation Sindoor, he publicly claimed credit for facilitating a ceasefire—an assertion New Delhi firmly rejected.
His administration has also pressured India over Russian and Iranian oil imports, criticised H-1B visa arrangements, and imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports.
The cumulative effect has been to inject friction into what was once presented as a steadily deepening partnership.

IMAGE: Trump and Xi at the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, May 15, 2026. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Pool/Reuters
Paradoxically, therefore, sustained US-China hostility had served Indian interests in important ways.
Strategic competition between Washington and Beijing enhanced India's geopolitical utility and expanded its diplomatic room for maneuver.
The sharper the Sino-American rivalry became, the greater India's value as a balancing power in the Indo-Pacific.
If that rivalry moderates, however—even partially—the consequences for India could be uncomfortable.
A US-China accommodation would not necessarily imply an alliance or even genuine trust between the two powers.
But if Washington comes to accept a larger Chinese role in Asian affairs, including in South Asia, India's strategic importance to the United States could diminish correspondingly.

New Delhi Faces Tough Geopolitical Reality​

For New Delhi, this would represent a difficult geopolitical adjustment.
India would confront a more entrenched China, a less dependable United States, and a regional order increasingly shaped by great-power bargaining over which it exercises limited influence.
India, therefore, enters a period requiring exceptional strategic caution.
The challenge before New Delhi is not merely to manage China's rise but to navigate the possibility that the United States itself may eventually reconcile with it.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Gunman Killed After Opening Fire Near White House While Donald Trump Was Inside Residence

May 24, 2026, 7:21 [IST] A man who allegedly opened fire near a security checkpoint close to the White House on Saturday evening was shot dead by Secret Service officers, while a bystander was also injured during the chaotic incident. Federal officials confirmed that President Donald Trump, who was inside the White House at the time, was not harmed. White House Gunman Killed Suspect Opened Fire Near Security Checkpoint According to a statement issued by the US Secret Service, the incident unfolded shortly after 6 pm ET when the suspect approached a White House security checkpoint carrying a bag. Officials said the individual "removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers." " Secret Service personnel immediately responded by returning fire. The suspect was struck during the exchange and later transported to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries. Authorities said none of the officers involved in the shooting were injured. The Secret Service also clarified that President Donald Trump "was not impacted" by the gunfire incident. Bystander Injured During Exchange of Fire: A bystander was also struck during the shooting near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, just one block away from the White House complex.

However, investigators are still trying to determine whether the bystander was hit by bullets allegedly fired by the suspect or by rounds discharged by law enforcement officers during the response. In a post on X, the Secret Service said it was "aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW" and added that officials were "working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground." The Metropolitan Police Department later urged people to stay away from the area as emergency personnel secured the scene. Dramatic Video Captures Sound Of Gunfire The shooting created panic among journalists and media staff stationed outside the White House. Selina Wang, senior White House correspondent for ABC News, shared a dramatic video on X showing the moment gunfire erupted while she was filming a social media segment. Wang wrote that she heard what "sounded like dozens of gunshots" before ducking for cover inside the media tent positioned along the White House driveway. The video quickly spread across social media platforms and gathered millions of views within hours. FBI Director Kash Patel also confirmed that officers were responding to the shooting and stated he would "update the public as we're able." Recent Security Threats Near White House Raise Concerns Saturday's shooting comes amid growing concerns over security threats near the White House and other high-profile locations in Washington, DC. The area had witnessed another deadly shooting last November when a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard. US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, later died from her injuries, while Andrew Wolfe was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal was charged in connection with that attack. The latest incident also follows what authorities described as an attempted assassination plot targeting President Donald Trump on April 25 during the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington. Officials said Cole Tomas Allen of California pleaded not guilty to charges linked to that alleged attempt and remains in federal custody. Just days after that scare, Secret Service officers shot another suspect accused of firing near the Washington Monument. Michael Marx, 45, of Texas, was later charged in connection with that case, which also left a teenage bystander injured.​

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

'I love Modi. India can count on me 100%': Trump's phone call at live Delhi event​

Source: PTI
May 25, 2026 09:36 IST
US President Donald Trump reiterated his strong support for India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, declaring that 'India can count on me 100 per cent' during a celebratory event marking the 250th anniversary of American independence in New Delhi.

IMAGE: US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor holds his phone up to the microphone to broadcast a surprise call from US President Donald Trump during an event celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence in New Delhi. Photograph: @USAmbIndia/X

Key Points​

• Donald Trump affirmed strong US support for India, stating, 'India can count on me 100 per cent,' and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'great friend'.
• The remarks were made during a phone conversation at an event in Bharat Mandapam celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the shared democratic values and growing economic and technology ties between India and the US.
• Jaishankar emphasised that both nations have a common interest in de-risking the global economy and providing more choices.
• The event featured performances by A R Rahman and the American band Village People, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also in attendance.

India can count on me 100 per cent, United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday night, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "great" friend during an event celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The event at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi was graced by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador Sergio Gor. The highlight of the event was a performance by A R Rahman.
Trump's Endorsement of India and Modi
"I just want to say hello to everybody. I love the Prime Minister, (Narendra) Modi is great, he is my friend and I just want to say a very good evening to everybody," Trump said in a phone conversation with Gor.
"I am a big, big fan of Prime Minister Modi," he said. The US ambassador held his phone to a microphone for the audience to hear Trump's remarks.
"We've never been closer to India and India can count on me 100 per cent and our country," the US president said. "If they ever need help, they know where to call -- they call right here."
Trump also claimed that the US economy was doing well. "We're doing well, we're setting records. We've a record economy, a record stock market," he said.
In his remarks, Trump also described Rubio as the "greatest secretary of state in the history of the US" and concluded by saying: "Say hello to Prime Minister Modi and let him know I'm a big fan."
Strengthening India-US Partnership
In his brief address, Rubio described India as a key partner of the US.
Jaishankar said the US declaration of independence articulated ideas that shaped the modern world such as individual liberty, rule of law, free speech and accountable governance, and their resonance in India was natural given the country's history as a pluralistic society with a consultative ethos.
The experiences of the US independence movement were taken into account by the makers of India's Constitution and the affinities between the two sides have grown with deeper economic and technology ties, Jaishankar said.
The shared traits of being political democracies, market economies and open societies have been strengthened by a convergence of national interests and this has enabled the two sides to overcome the "hesitations of history", the external affairs minister said.
The Indian diaspora in the US has helped build political understanding between the two countries, he noted.
Jaishankar argues that the world is going through an era of transition and it makes a good case for the India-US relationship to grow stronger. "Both nations gave a common interest in de-risking the global economy and providing the world with more choices," he said.

Cultural Celebrations​

The highlight of the evening was Rahman's performance as he sang hits such as Dil Se, Maa Tujhe Salaam and Tere Bina.
There was also a celebration of Rubio's birthday and the evening was capped by a performance by the American band Village People.
Source: PTI - Edited By: Hemant Waje© Copyright 2026 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Trump is not going to make a 'bad deal': Marco Rubio​

Source: PTI
May 25, 2026 16:07 IST
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, though President Donald Trump remains firm on not accepting a 'bad deal' amidst ongoing discussions on Iran's nuclear programme and regional stability.

IMAGE: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the journalists before boarding his plane at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on May 25, 2026. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool/Reuters

Key Points​

• The US has made significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for global energy supplies.
• President Donald Trump is maintaining a cautious approach, insisting he will not accept a 'bad deal' regarding Iran's nuclear programme and regional issues.
• Key sticking points in the peace talks include Iran's nuclear programme and control over the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen disruptions since February 28.
• Secretary Rubio highlighted global support for efforts to end the West Asia conflict but acknowledged the path to peace is challenging.
• The US is also working on a separate track concerning Lebanon, addressing the influence of Hezbollah, which Rubio described as a '100 percent Iranian proxy.'

The US has made significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump is maintaining a cautious approach and will not accept a bad deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.
The remarks by the US Secretary of State, currently on a four-day trip to India, came amid indications that the US and Iran are looking at a preliminary deal to reopen the shipping lane before hammering out a comprehensive peace agreement.
Progress in Negotiations
"Work is still in progress. We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today," he told a small group of reporters before leaving for Agra.
"So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of getting the Strait open, entering into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.
The US Secretary of State said there has been global support for the ongoing efforts to end the conflict in West Asia but added that the road to peace is not very easy.
The key sticking points in the US-Iran peace talks have been Iran's nuclear programme and control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass in normal times.
Shipping through the Strait has been severely disrupted since February 28, when the US and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. Shipping disruptions continue even though a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.
"Every country that we've walked through understands it's not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done. As the President said, he's not in a hurry; he's not going to make a bad deal," he said.
Rubio said the US is going to give diplomacy "every chance to succeed" before exploring "alternatives".

Trump's Stance on a Deal​

"The President is not going to make a bad deal. No one has been more serious about the threat of a nuclear Iran than President Trump has been."
"And so I'm very confident that we should all be very confident that we're either going to have a good agreement or we're going to have to deal with it another way," he said. "We'd prefer to have a good agreement," he said.
Rubio, addressing a press conference after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, said on Sunday that there is a possibility of "good news" coming in the next few hours.

Lebanon and Hezbollah​

The US Secretary of State also responded to a question on Lebanon.
"We're working on it separately. With Lebanon, we are engaged as we have a 45-day ceasefire. We've had weekly meetings now and ongoing daily engagements between the government of Lebanon and Israel," he said.
Rubio said the "problem" is not Lebanon and Israel, but Hezbollah. "Just last night, Hezbollah put out a statement calling for the overthrow of the Lebanese government. And it just reminds you of who you are dealing with here. It (Hezbollah) is a 100 percent Iranian proxy."
"As long as an armed Hezbollah exists, it's going to be hard to achieve peace in Lebanon because they're victimizing the people of Lebanon," Rubio said. We are working on that track with the Lebanese government and the Israeli government, and we've made some good progress there, he said.
"We're going to continue to work on that. Well, Israel always has the right to protect itself. Every country in the world does. And so if Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launch missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that or to prevent that from happening," Rubio said.

Cultural Diplomacy and Quad Meeting​

The US Secretary of State said he was looking forward to his visit to the Taj Mahal. "It's one of the wonders of the world. I think it's important to show respect to the culture of the countries that you visit," he said.
Rubio will also travel to Jaipur before returning to New Delhi on Tuesday morning to attend a meeting of Quad foreign ministers. "We have a gap in our schedule because the Quad meeting couldn't happen until tomorrow. So it was a good opportunity to see some of the cultural sites here and pay respect to this country," he said.
"There's so much to see here, and such a big country with a lot of diversity and a tremendous history. So it'll be a good opportunity to see something that is iconic for the country," Rubio said.
Source: PTI