INDIAN EXPRESS

Modi, Trump agree to seal early trade deal after US calls India's tariffs 'unfair'

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump met in the White House, Delhi and Washington sent clear signals of their resolve to address the issue of tariffs and get down to business quickly by starting talks for a trade pact and sealing it by fall this year. The US also asked India to buy more oil and gas, promised to in-crease military sales this year on-ward and eventually provide the 35 stealth fighters. The direction for an early trade agreement means that negotiators have 7-8 months when Trump is expected in India for a summit of the Quad leaders Japan and Australia are the two other countries in the grouping. This is the first firm deadline for a bilateral deal - the deal was being negotiated in Trump's first term but could not materialise.

Why gas rather than oil could be route to raising India's energy imports from US

India and the United States have agreed to take steps to-wards making Washington "a leading supplier of oil and gas to India", which could help bridge the trade deficit between the two countries, US President Donald Trump said after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington. India is already a significant buyer of American oil and gas. The US is India's fifth-largest supplier of crude oil, although its market share has been in low single digits. Washington is also New Delhi's second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Qatar, as per India's official trade data.

New 10-yr partnership framework to F-35s to Javelin missiles: Major boost to defence ties

With their strategic cooperation straddling sectors from defence to high-tech, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new initiative, the 'US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century', to "drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation". The two sides announced plans for the new 10-year defence framework. "Highlighting the deepening convergence of US-India strategic interests, the leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains. To advance defence ties further, the leaders announced plans to sign this year a new 10-year Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership in the 21st Century," the joint statement said.

Proposal to merge Ayushman Bharat, state health schemes

A week after the BJP's victory in Delhi, the state health department began the initial process to launch Ayushman Bharat, the flagship health insurance scheme of the Narendra Modi-led government, in the national capital. The health insurance scheme has been implemented in all states except West Bengal and Delhi. The note includes approving implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) with a Rs 10 lakh cover per family, merging Delhi Arogya Kosh (DAK) with Ayushman Bharat, and establishing a task force to oversee their integration.

India and US to work together on key areas as Biden-era initiative renamed

Taking forward the Biden administration's Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET), India and the US decided to rename it and launch the US-India TRUST initiative, which is expected to catalyze government-to-government, academia and private sector collaboration to promote the application of critical and emerging technologies in areas like defence, artificial intelligence and space. The ICET was launched during the Biden administration and was led by the National Security Advisors. Then US NSA Jake Sullivan and NSA Ajit Doval led the talks on critical and emerging technologies. This was widely expected the challenges from China.

Modi and Trump to activate new Quad initiatives

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump will activate new initiatives under the Quad grouping, plan to convene partners from the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group within the next six months in order to announce new initiatives in 2025, and launched a new bilateral, Indian Ocean Strategic Venture. They are also expected to announce new partnership initiatives across Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific. Under the rubric of the "Multilateral Cooperation", the joint statement said that Prime Minister Modi looks forward to hosting President Trump in New Delhi for the Quad leaders' Summit, ahead of which the "leaders will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to support civilian response to natural disasters and maritime patrols to improve inter-operability".

A NEW COMPACT

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington, India and the United States established an ambitious agenda to deepen their bilateral strategic partnership. Trump's emphasis on reducing the trade deficit now favouring India and the swift repatriation of illegal immigrants from India had cast a shadow over the relationship. The unveiling of a new COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) is likely to become the foundation for a high-quality relationship between the two nations. The two nations have set an ambitious target of achieving $500 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030, necessitating a comprehensive reevaluation of India's trade strategy - a need that has become increasingly urgent amid a slowdown in India's external trade and rising com-plaints from trade partners regarding its protectionist policies.

Mission accomplished

The statement features six areas: Defence, trade and investment, energy, technology and innovation, multilateral cooperation, and people-to-people (P2P), in that order. The Foreign Secretary's "special briefing" to the media more or less followed the same order in terms of the areas of agreement, though it was perhaps significant that in his remarks, multilateral cooperation came last significant because Trump's America is focused on transactional bilateral relationships and suspicious of or in-different to regional and international partnerships. The Prime Minister got a warm embrace from the US President and met key figures friendly to India such as Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, and Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump refrained from embarrassing India over tariffs, though higher tariffs on Indian products will likely soon kick in. The areas of cooperation ahead are solid ones to deepen - defence, trade and investment, energy, and technology.

FACING THE WEATHER

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report ranked extreme weather events as the second-most difficult security threat after armed conflicts and war. More than 9,400 extreme weather events were recorded between 1993 and 2022, notes the latest edition of the Global Climate Risk Index (CRI). The survey, conducted regularly since 2006 by the international think tank German Watch, estimates that the economic losses due to these extreme weather events amounted to more than $4 trillion (inflation-adjusted). The report's findings are sobering for India - one in 10 climate casualties between 1993 and 2022 was from the country. It was the sixth worst-affected country in this period.

10.

How reciprocal tariffs work

United States President Donald Trump unveiled a plan to hit the whole world with "reciprocal tariffs", potentially signalling the end of existing trade rules and sending things back almost a century in terms of how countries do business with one another. Tariffs are taxes imposed by an importing country on foreign goods coming into that country. For a consumer, they raise the price of an imported good, and in effect, throw mud in the wheels of global trade. As the rules of world trade were being framed think the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) it was agreed that developing countries would get "special and differential treatment" since they often did not have a robust industrial sector or an efficient farm economy to compete on an even keel with the developed countries.

11.

Note of caution: what bilateral trade deal with US could mean for India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump have announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) this year, and to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. A BTA is narrower in scope than a free trade agreement (FTA), and is focused on specific goods rather than overall trade liberalisation. The two countries have committed to designating "senior representatives" to advance trade negotiations, according to the joint statement released after the meeting between the leaders.

12.

US-designed reactors, SMRs, and why the 123 Agreement could finally realise its full potential

As India and the United States affirmed their commitment to furthering a bilateral Energy Security Partnership, an agreement that aims to make Washington "a leading supplier of oil and gas to India" is in focus. Far more strategic is an announcement that signals their commitment to "fully realise" the US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement, alongside a pledge to move forward on plans to work together to build American-designed nuclear reactors in India. The two sides took note of the announcement by the Indian Government in the Union Budget to take up amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA) for nuclear reactors. It was also decided "to establish bilateral arrangements in accordance with CLNDA", which would address the issue of civil liability and facilitate the collaboration of Indian and US industry in the production and deployment of nuclear reactors.

13.

With focus on Al, chips, India-US look to deepen tech-based collaboration

India and the United States will prepare a roadmap to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure by the end of the year, with an eye on enabling investments in data centres and increasing access to computing power for Al, the two countries announced in a joint statement. The move could see an increase in US-origin Al infrastructure in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump announced the launch of the US-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative, to enhance government-to-government, academia and private sector collaboration to promote application of critical and emerging technologies in areas such as defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy and space, while encouraging the use of verified technology vendors and ensuring sensitive technologies are protected.

14.

TRUST initiative could ramp up supply chains for critical minerals, pharma

A bilateral initiative for cooperation in recovery and processing of critical minerals, including lithium and rare earth elements was launched by India and the United States. Under the Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) initiative - announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington - the two countries will reduce barriers to technology transfer, address export controls, and enhance high-tech commerce. It has also been decided to launch a recovery and processing initiative for strategic minerals like lithium and rare earth," PM Modi said at a press conference with US President Donald Trump. The TRUST initiative follows India's induction into the US-led Minerals Security Finance Network (MSFN) in September last year, after it joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) in 2023. The TRUST initiative's focus on creating robust supply chains for pharmaceuticals could focus on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), many of which depend on critical minerals like lithium, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. After China, India is the largest manufacturer of APIs in the world.

Notifications

All Exams