India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

[Vayutuvan]

Tourist numbers from all over the world into the US are down.
Add to that drop in students from all countries - India seeing the biggest drop.

Due to India, US lost only $350 M. It is a mere 4-5% of the total drop. Canadians might have done the most damage. IDK.

[Vayutuvan]

Few days back my SiL came from Blore. The flight was empty she said. So much so, she was able to sleep on her row. The flight interestingly took a detour via Kolkata (refueling - Paki problem I guess) and then came non-stop to SFO.

Now it is non-peak time. I am sure you would know that colleges started in Aug itself.

[vera_k]

Few days back my SiL came from Blore. The flight was empty she said. So much so, she was able to sleep on her row. The flight interestingly took a detour via Kolkata (refueling - Paki problem I guess) and then came non-stop to SFO.

Boeing plane perhaps? People may be avoiding them.

[Amber G.]

US Ambassador Nominee to India Sergio Gor meets External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in New York.


He also met Rubio:

“Secretary Rubio, reiterating that India is a relationship of critical importance to the United States, expressed his appreciation for the Indian government’s continued engagement on a number of issues including trade, defense, energy, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, and other items related to the bilateral relationship.

[A_Gupta]

I am unable to find yield per hectare data in the last 5 years .

I think it is on this GOI page, scroll down.
https://upag.gov.in

“Explore Area, Production and Yield for various crops across years and state wise”

—-
AI gives this - verify before use:
In 2024, India's total foodgrain yield was projected at 2,515 kg/ha, with specific crop yields varying, such as 436 kg/ha for cotton (FY2024) and an average 3.7 tonnes/ha (3,700 kg/ha) for maize. While final 2024 figures are still being released, the 2023-24 year saw promising trends, with record final estimates for rice, wheat, and other cereals from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Key Yields for 2024:
Total Foodgrains:
A projected 2,515 kg/ha for the year 2024, with an updated figure of 2,548 kg/ha for 2025.
Cotton:
An estimated 436 kg/ha for the fiscal year 2024, which was a decrease from the previous year.
Maize:
An average yield of 3.7 tonnes per hectare (3,700 kg/ha).
Rice:
Record final estimates for 2023-24 were released in September 2024.

[Cain Marko]

https://x.com/ByRakeshSimha/status/1969958646244372670
@ByRakeshSimha
MAGA supporters on 4Chan launched "Clog the Toilet" operation to block Indian H1B workers from returning to the US by reserving flight seats without paying. Flight prices spiked. A 4Chan post urged, "Clog the flight reservation system!" to keep Indian workers grounded. Some claimed to have locked up 100 seats. But here's the kicker - there was no deadline for Indians to return, and Air India does not do refunds. So these low IQ incels at 4Chan lost a ton of money. Just proves the US needs more - not less - H1B workers.

if we do not know the enemy properly, we cannot defeat it; after having used 4chan for many years, i will say that they are an eclectic mixture of lonely, introverted and high functioning autistic men

https://www.popularmechanics.com/scienc ... rmutation/

what they did in the above was holding the ticket, as in they filled in the details but did not checkout, this triggered a 15 minute holding period for the seat selected, and they brute spammed this multiple times, some even created a script to auto fill the details and hold, this in actuality caused prices to spike up, one legitimate flyer had to pay upwards of $6000 because of such antics

hence the name: clogging, because they were jamming up the entire system, it came to naught as the policies were updated afterwards, but in the interim, they had a lot of screenshots, i would know, i was there

what you think of describing are stromfront thugs who are illiterate for all purposes, the same is not true for 4chan, not by a long shot, some rich philosophical, technical, literary discussions can only be had there, there is quite literally no other place existing like it

Americans are very very savvy in their own way.

[pravula]

US Ambassador Nominee to India Sergio Gor meets External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in New York.

Way off-topic: Its fun to see different styles of jackets and how people sit with them on. I see most single breasted jacket people unbutton when sitting on a chair. Whats the etiquette for a double breasted one? Is there a fashion thread...

[chetak]

US Ambassador Nominee to India Sergio Gor meets External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in New York.

Way off-topic: Its fun to see different styles of jackets and how people sit with them on. I see most single breasted jacket people unbutton when sitting on a chair. Whats the etiquette for a double breasted one? Is there a fashion thread...

pravula ji, just saying onlee

Why follow gora etiquette, when you can have your own

these guys use paper, we use water. Do they follow your etiquette for hygiene

BTW, see any picture with Doval ji.

Most of the time his jacket is unbuttoned, standing or sitting

These guys are comfortable in their own brown skins

[Cyrano]

While wearing a regular jacket which can have 1, 2 or 3 buttons depending on the fashion trends of the moment, one can button up middle 1, top 2 or all 3 buttons while standing, walking etc depending on the weather and formality of the occasion. But while sitting one must unbutton at least the bottom one so that it's not ripped off while sitting.

While wearing a double breasted jacket, more formal by design, which has typically 3, and rarely 2 buttons, one cannot unbutton all of them since the lapels will hang loose and flap around awkwardly. So one is forced to button up the top 2 or all three while standing or walking. While sitting, one is obliged to unbutton the bottom button to avoid ripping it off, just like for a regular single breasted jacket.

The way Dr SJ is wearing it is correct. But sometimes his shirt, collar, tie and pocket kerchief styles and colour combinations are not to my taste. For example wearing a striped tie on a striped shirt etc. while not fundamentally wrong it makes for a too busy outfit.

Lastly the elegance of a suit comes from how well it fits your body shape and the shoes you wear with it. If you cannot afford a bespoke suit, then at least get your ready made suit adjusted for silhouette, sleeve length, trouser etc at a good tailor shop.

And for god's sake remove the brand label from the sleeve before wearing a ready made suit. It's there only to help find it while hanging on a rack in the shop. BTW black suits are for bouncers, limo drivers and funerals. Brown suits for semi formal occasions in spring and autumn. Tweeds for country side. Greys, cream colours, and linens are for summers and weddings. Blues for year round wear for office goers.
Hope this helps.

[Cyrano]

BTW these are not some random rules defined by someone's whims, it's just common sense. If you decide to wear a suit then wear it in a way that maximises your elegance by it's style, fit and fitness for the season and occasion, without screaming for attention to yourself.

Else go for desi outfits like NaMo, he also wears different half jackets depending on season and occasion, and his choices are careful and quite impeccable, and usually send a message relevant to the occasion.

[sanjaykumar]

For the three buttons, the rule from the top for unbuttoning is: never, sometimes and always.

Lest you embarrass yourself at Walmart.

[Rudradev]

For the three buttons, the rule from the top for unbuttoning is: never, sometimes and always.

Lest you embarrass yourself at Walmart.

You wear a double-breasted suit jacket to Walmart?

[Vayutuvan]

Pretty soon this thread (most inappropriate one to talk about Brutishit fashion) is gonna devolve into a Wooster vs. Jeeves like fight on "what the well dressed gentleman is wearing" in London.

I am also reminded of the story titled "The Queer Feet" from "The Innocence of Father Brown" by GK Chesterton.

IB4TL

[Cyrano]

Well, the white House gave a hard time to zelinsky for his beggar faux soldier outfit coz he wasn't wearing a suit. They will never dare ambush Modi like that.

[pravula]

Thanks all, consider me schooled.

[A_Gupta]

Donald Trump
@realDonaldTrump • Truth Social icon Truth Social • September 23, 2025 @ 2:55 PM ET
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View on Truth Social
After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not? Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like “a paper tiger.” When the people living in Moscow, and all of the Great Cities, Towns, and Districts all throughout Russia, find out what is really going on with this War, the fact that it’s almost impossible for them to get Gasoline through the long lines that are being formed, and all of the other things that are taking place in their War Economy, where most of their money is being spent on fighting Ukraine, which has Great Spirit, and only getting better, Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that! Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act. In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!
DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[A_Gupta]

And:

Donald Trump
@realDonaldTrump • Truth Social icon Truth Social • September 23, 2025 @ 5:29 PM ET
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RT @rapidresponse47President @realDonaldTrump: In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs... But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures... they have to immediately cease ALL energy purchases from Russia.

[chetak]

very much closer to home........

[Cyrano]

Might be quite true though!

[a_bharat]

The days of dowry are long gone in Andhra. It is the girls that call the shots these days.

[uddu]

The days of dowry are long gone in Andhra. It is the girls that call the shots these days.

In that case the rejection rate will be high.

[uddu]

Not only lobby, IA must utilize their Second Amendment right really seriously and protect themselves.
Shashi Tharoor Questions Indian-American Silence As US Hits India With Tariffs, H-1B Visa Fee Hike
Why has the Indian diaspora in the US chosen silence as Washington imposes hostile policies against India? Shashi Tharoor posed this pointed question after a rare exchange with a delegation of US lawmakers. He said it was “surprising” that Indian-Americans, despite their influence and numbers, had not protested tariff hikes, steep visa fees, or US wavering on key projects like Chabahar. Urging them to take responsibility, Tharoor said, “If you care about your relationship with the motherland, then you must also fight for it.” The visiting lawmakers, while critical of Trump’s measures, assured their commitment to India’s strategic partnership. The episode highlights a growing disconnect: while US Congress shows warmth towards India, its diaspora is being called out for inaction when India faces policy headwinds.

[uddu]

Watch: Indian Woman Chased, Shot To Death By Masked Robber Outside Her Store In South Carolina
In another shocking incident in South Carolina, 49-year-old Indian-American Kiran Patel, a Gujarati-origin woman, was shot dead during a robbery at her convenience store, DD’s Food Mart. Patel was confronted by a masked gunman demanding money. Despite her attempt to resist by throwing an object at the assailant, she was shot multiple times as she fled into the parking lot. Surveillance footage captures the chilling moments leading to her tragic death.

[Rudradev]

Enjoy!

Foreign Affairs Magazine

Why America Should Bet on Pakistan
A Better South Asia Policy Runs Through Islamabad
Moeed Yusuf (former NSA, Pakistan)
September 11, 2025 (Irony died 72 deaths)

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/pakistan ... t-pakistan

Summary of article: India Bad, India Untrustworthy, India Arrogant, Modi Bad, Kashmir!, Water!, India Bad. Also, US indulgence of India made India more bad, and Pakistan suffered, therefore (out of white guilt) US should feel bad for Pakistan.

Then at the end:

Pakistan’s vision for the region offers a solution to prevent further deepening these fault lines. Its National Security Policy seeks to convert Pakistani territory into a crossroads for U.S., Chinese and even Indian economic interests. Although admittedly ambitious, such an approach could offer a transformational outcome for the two billion people who live in South Asia.

The principal arena in which great-power competition can be transformed into great-power collaboration is connectivity. American unease with CPEC could be assuaged by parallel investments by the United States in intersecting regional corridors that would share the same road, rail, and maritime infrastructure. The United States has long supported the goal of greater connectivity between South and Central Asia, for instance. And allowing Central Asian countries greater access to Pakistan’s ports would reduce their dependence on Russia. Pakistan would have a natural interest in ensuring that its territory does not become a zone of conflict for the great powers, and would discourage China and the United States from crossing each other’s red lines—for instance, through the deployment of a Chinese security presence in Gwadar or U.S. support for India’s claims that the CPEC is illegal because it passes through disputed territory and therefore violates Indian sovereignty. Moreover, improved relations between India and Pakistan would allow India to utilize Pakistan’s land corridor to connect with Central Asia, a long-standing interest of New Delhi. (Pipe Dream Lumber 1: China, having flushed $65B of its own CPEC investments down the toilet that is Pakistan, will happily accept a situation where the US gets to share in the fruits of those investments and its own influence is curtailed. Pipe Dream Lumber 1a: Pakistan will be a fair and capable guarantor of all this harmony.)

Pakistan’s vast reserves of critical minerals should also draw U.S. attention. The United States has already expressed interest in the Reko Diq mine, home to some of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits. (This is Pipe Dream Lumber 2) Chinese companies are also invested in various projects in the area and interested in supporting operations at Reko Diq, which is located in Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan Province. bordering Afghanistan. Baluchistan has been wracked by terrorism and insurgency in recent years; combined U.S. and Chinese assistance could help Pakistan stabilize the province and prevent violence. (Pipe Dream Lumber 2a: That ANY other country is going to step in and help Pakistan suppress Baloch freedom fighters, or wants to, or can-- rather than insisting on the Pakistan Army doing so as a precondition for further development of "critical mineral" deposits with foreign money. Pipe Dream Lumber 2b: that a combination of the US PLUS China making this mythical effort will be either in the US' interest, or China's interest, or successful. )

[Rudradev]

Rajiv Malhotra ji explains the problem with India's capacity to influence policy in America with his inimitable perceptiveness and harsh clarity of assessment.

[A_Gupta]

“ Its National Security Policy seeks to convert Pakistani territory into a crossroads for U.S., Chinese and even Indian economic interests.”

[Amber G.]

Journalist: President Trump said America will develop Pakistan's oil reserves and sell oil to India. Any progress on this?

US Energy Secretary: I haven't looked at that or spoken to US companies about it yet

[S_Madhukar]

The days of dowry are long gone in Andhra. It is the girls that call the shots these days.

OT only …
Hopefully we will get better Tollywood actresses now. Where have the Meenakshi Sheshadris and Keerthy Reddys gone? Sai Pallavi is popular now WTF ?! I guess H1 took a lot of actresses to the US including some popular Marathi actresses in 80s and 90s

[uddu]

“H1B Work Can Happen From Anywhere,” Sanjeev Sanyal on Visa Policy
At Reforms Reloaded, PMEAC member Sanjeev Sanyal discussed H1B visas, process reforms, and government restructuring. He emphasized that long-term visas primarily benefit other countries, and India should focus on accelerating process reforms for residents and NRIs. Sanyal also highlighted efforts to streamline central agencies, merge redundant departments, and simplify systems like GST to boost domestic production and consumer benefits.

[ShauryaT]

Source: (Benzinga Newswire) -- Do not have URL.

India's government has drafted a proposal to ease foreign investment rules to allow e-commerce companies like Amazon AMZN.O to buy products directly from Indian sellers and then sell them to overseas customers, a document showed.
India currently prohibits foreign e-commerce companies from selling goods directly to consumers either at home or abroad, allowing them only to operate a marketplace to connect buyers and sellers for a fee.

[ShauryaT]

"President Trump suggested he is open to lifting sanctions on Turkey and selling F-35 jet fighters to the NATO ally, but he called on Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying oil and gas from Russia .
Trump said that if White House meetings go well on Thursday, he could "almost immediately" lift the sanctions, which were applied in response to Turkey's 2019 purchase of Russian missiles. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program after it bought an S-400 missile-defense system from Moscow" .
Trump Open to Selling F-35s to Turkey, but Chides Erdogan for Buying Russian Oil

Will India be offered the same deal next? Buy F-35 for a trade deal? And will India bite? Should India bite?

[chetak]

"President Trump suggested he is open to lifting sanctions on Turkey and selling F-35 jet fighters to the NATO ally, but he called on Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying oil and gas from Russia .
Trump said that if White House meetings go well on Thursday, he could "almost immediately" lift the sanctions, which were applied in response to Turkey's 2019 purchase of Russian missiles. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program after it bought an S-400 missile-defense system from Moscow" .
Trump Open to Selling F-35s to Turkey, but Chides Erdogan for Buying Russian Oil

Will India be offered the same deal next? Buy F-35 for a trade deal? And will India bite? Should India bite?

the F-35 is a poison pill, ShauryaT ji.

apart from its many shortcomings, the F-35 flies solely on cheen goodwill

[chetak]

"President Trump suggested he is open to lifting sanctions on Turkey and selling F-35 jet fighters to the NATO ally, but he called on Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying oil and gas from Russia .
Trump said that if White House meetings go well on Thursday, he could "almost immediately" lift the sanctions, which were applied in response to Turkey's 2019 purchase of Russian missiles. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program after it bought an S-400 missile-defense system from Moscow" .
Trump Open to Selling F-35s to Turkey, but Chides Erdogan for Buying Russian Oil

Will India be offered the same deal next? Buy F-35 for a trade deal? And will India bite? Should India bite?

the F-35 is a poison pill, ShauryaT ji.

apart from its many other shortcomings, the F-35 flies solely on cheen goodwill

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/09 ... in-magnet/

[Amber G.]

Each H-1B visa holder reduces the budget deficit by more than $800,000 in net present value over his lifetime....if the $100,000 application fee...reduces the number of visas...the policy will cost Washington revenue and shrink the size of the economy.

-Daniel Di Martino
From WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/h-1b-visas- ... s-ac53affa

[A_Gupta]

Will India be offered the same deal next? Buy F-35 for a trade deal? And will India bite? Should India bite?

India should not take any such deal.
1. F-35 is extremely expensive to buy and extremely expensive to operate.
2. The US will have all kinds of use restrictions on the planes.
3. The S-400 has been very successful in the Indian context. India should not give it up or give up on the next generation.
4. If India must buy weapons from the US to secure a trade deal, let it be things useful and cost-effective as much as possible, and only if it was something India would likely buy anyway.

[Ambar]

Rajiv Malhotra ji explains the problem with India's capacity to influence policy in America with his inimitable perceptiveness and harsh clarity of assessment.

There’s a clear divide between the pre-2020 Rajiv Malhotra and the post-2020 version. He remains razor-sharp, erudite, and highly articulate, but too often his conversations now drift into personal gripes and grievances. I agree with him that the whole “My frand Dunaald” and “ab ki baar Trump sarkar” routine was cringe-worthy, unnecessary, and shortsighted. Where I differ is in his belief that simply buying a seat at a think tank would have significantly changed our prospects.

He is absolutely right that Pakistan punches above its weight, pouring millions into lobbying, embedding its people across governments, and securing influence on both sides of the Western political spectrum. But India’s challenge today goes beyond policy confusion in Washington. What we are facing is a deeply rooted ideological and nativist movement, one that think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have successfully channeled into policy. Buying more “seats at the table” won’t fundamentally shift that reality. In this context, India turning inward and strengthening ties with its immediate neighbors including China, actually makes sense.

Yes, we do need a consistent line, and yes, our lobbying and PR game needs serious improvement. But let’s not kid ourselves that lobbying alone will solve our problems. And Malhotra’s suggestion that India should “invest” in the U.S. by sending more workers here is tone-deaf and almost laughable, especially when the MAGA political platform is explicitly anti-immigration!