India is carefully and successfully crafting a policy to navigate the tariffs on exports through a judicious mix of strategic restraint, proactive trade negotiation and leveraging competitive advantages by favourably positioning itself in a shifting global landscape. This is because President Trump’s tariff policy offers relief to nations taking “significant steps to remedy non-reciprocal trade arrangements”. Our negotiations aim to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 and include concessions like tariff cuts on US imports including abrogating a digital services tax affecting US tech firms. Higher is tariff on competitors like China, Bangladesh and Vietnam which will provide India a relative edge in electronics, machinery and textiles. In fact, India can capture the market share successfully. Considering the success of PM Modis’ US visit, India is handling the tariffs with patience and adapting its resilient economy of growth to evolving trade dynamics.
In fact, the proposed visit of Vice-President Vance has given positive indications. Reportedly, India and US are in the process of finalizing a bilateral trade agreement which may be a win-win situation for both countries. This is also a reflection of PM Modi’s visit to the United States which marked a new era in India-US relations, refurbishing the strategic partnership between the two countries. Since PM Modi’s religion is India and welfare of all Indians, this visit exhibited the exceptional ability of PM Modi to advance India’s national interests. He navigated complex bilateral dynamics and the visit underscored the deepening strategic partnership. Major successes were scored in defence, technology, trade, energy and counter-terrorism. The visit further strengthened the PM’s personal bond with President Trump, reaffirming the earlier “Howdy-Modi” and “Namaste-Trump” engagements. President Trump’s commitment to “Make America Great Again”, (MAGA) was adopted by a slogan -”Make India Great Again” (MIGA), combining the two to make it MEGA- conveying shared declaration of national unity, pride and economic progress. Positive and constructive discussions on various issues led to a diplomatic triumph.
The two countries set a target to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. We were able to mitigate the impact of the aggressive trade policies, especially the reciprocal tariffs announced before the meeting. This is because India had already lowered tariffs on select US goods. The US agreed to increase US oil and gas exports to India, which will reduce India’s reliance on other countries. India offered concessions without compromising India’s core interests and I am sure that the US has realised that it can count on India as a trusted partner, very relevant in the US economic agenda. The US assured continuous support for India’s Generalized System of Preferences benefits. PM Modi’s engagement with tech leaders of America, including Elon Musk, was a pivotal point in Indo-US tech collaboration. This resulted in progress on issues like Tesla’s manufacturing plant in India, launch of the US-India Compact initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation in AI, space and semiconductors as also an invitation to the US campuses universities to establish campuses in India. A significant achievement was the announcement of a 10-year military collaboration, which included the sale of F-35 fighter jets to India, which marked India’s entry into the elite club of nations possessing fifth-generation stealth fighters. Apart from this, other achievements included the launch of the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) to counter China’s expanding naval presence in the Indian Ocean, co-developing small modular nuclear reactors, advancing India’s energy security goals, securing predator-armed drones and agreeing to expand joint military exercises including the Malabar naval exercise, which also includes Japan and Australia. The visit paved the way for increased defence collaboration with American companies agreeing to set up production facilities in India.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, PM Modi held sway with his dictum- “We are not neutral; we are on the side of peace.”
Symbolically the most significant achievement on the counter-terrorism aspect was President Trump’s approval of the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, who has landed in India.
This proved India’s success in aligning the US stand in terrorism with India’s. Both countries agreed to enhance intelligence sharing and also signed an agreement to strengthen cyber security renewable energy collaboration, focusing on solar power, wind energy and electrical vehicles. India and NASA agreed to enhance space exploration cooperation and the US pledged support for India’s semi-conductor manufacturing mission.
Hence, we see that PM Modi leveraged his personal rapport with President Trump to secure and great successes for India in national interest, and laid the foundation of robust cooperation between the two countries in the future, which would result in constant economic growth and geopolitical stability.
The author is a former Chairman, Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission.
His views are personal.
