India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

[Amber G.]

Sharinmg <1 min video> US India Business Council (USIBC) President Atul Keshap (@USAmbKeshap’s) statement on U.S.-India Trade Deal.

[Amber G.]

Recent news blip: Dr. S. Jaishankar meets US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington DC. First high level US-India meeting after announcement of trade deal on strategic and economic partnership.

[Amber G.]

EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar:

Delighted to meet US @SecRubio this afternoon.

A wide ranging conversation that covered our bilateral cooperation agenda, regional and global issues.

Facets of India - US Strategic Partnership discussed included trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology.

Agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests.

[Amber G.]

What we know of India US trade Deal so far
From Indian Side

-Tariffs on India reduced to 18% from 50%
-$500 bn purchases by India over some years
-Civil nuclear cooperation to increase
-On Agriculture, India's interests remains
-Negotiations continue
-Joint statement soon

From US side
-India to stop buying Russian Oil (claim disputed, Russia reaction too)
-India to buy from Oil from US, Venezuela
-India to reduce tariffs for US on agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices
-American farm products to get Indian Market

[Amber G.]

Meanwhile: US House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill (217–214) to end the partial government shutdown and sent it to Trump, who says he will sign it.

[A_Gupta]

A trade deal is. supposed to be a net plus for both sides. The commentaries in the Indian media about which side won and which side lost are misplaced. Yes, some sectors of the economy gain more and some may lose some - on each side; but the goal is a net plus for both sides. That is the very basis of free trade as opposed to extortion.

I think the commentary that says this is still an announcement, not yet a deal are correct.

Also please note:

Prompt: President Trump has signed trade deals with a number of countries over the past year. What is their legal status in the US before they are ratified by the Senate. Briefly please.

Response: They generally have no binding domestic legal force until Congress acts. Internationally, they may signal U.S. intent, but inside the United States they do not change law, tariffs, or obligations until Congress (usually the Senate for treaties, or both chambers for congressional‑executive agreements) approves them....Many recent “mini‑deals”: These are often nonbinding commitments or “hybrid” agreements with uncertain legal status until Congress enacts implementing legislation.

[Aarvee]

Biggest concerns-
"-India to reduce tariffs for US on agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices
-American farm products to get Indian Market"

[Amber G.]

India-U.S. trade deal will not include sensitive agricultural items and dairy: Goyal

[Jay]

Biggest concerns-
"-India to reduce tariffs for US on agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices
-American farm products to get Indian Market"

Is this a concern from political or economic POV?

[williams]

I think some of the people in the media and few others in the social media do not understand what trade deal means. It is not a thing where country A will simply start changing its buying and selling pattern because of a deal. It just codifies the tariffs/taxes for various products. Based on that businesses from both sides will then figure out the best way to source their raw materials or finished goods. No matter what Trump wants, Indian government cannot make a business in India to buy American or vice versa. IMO other than high tech speciality items US products are never going to sell competitively in India. So other than oil and high tech goods, US cannot compete with other countries in the Indian market.

[Aarvee]

Is this a concern from political or economic POV?

If industrially produced agricultural goods from the US are cheaper, Indian small-scale farmers may suffer. They could even offer second grade quality materials, which they may usually not consume to price sensitive markets.

In Australia, recently, butter from the US was being sold in supermarkets. The customers overwhelmingly rejected it. But ours is a price sensitive market.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-12/ ... /105738806

[williams]

https://www.politico.eu/article/piyush- ... ald-trump/

Few points

India’s trade chief Piyush Goyal wore a fresh white shirt and a cheeky smile on a sunny morning in Abu Dhabi in early March.

He was surrounded by the world’s top trade diplomats, who feared he was about to undo months of work to restore order to the global trade system.

Goyal’s approach has put Western powers on the back foot. A meeting during trade talks last year opened with him “railing” against colonialism, a senior official from a Western negotiating partner said, noting they weren’t sure if it was part of his strategy.

Goyal’s showmanship and negotiating savvy have made him a weapon for India as it tries to shrug off the shadow of its colonial past and take up its mantle as a global superpower alongside the U.S. and China.

[chetak]

Piddi Argument—'Trump said Agriculture in his post. .@narendramodi is lying'

What Piddis don't know

US Agricultural Products were being Imported by Bharat SINCE BEFORE Feb 2026 #TradeDeal & WILL CONTINUE After:

-Tree Nuts (primarily almonds and pistachios; also walnuts & pecans)
-Fruits (apples, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, pears & processed fruits like prunes or dried cranberries)
-Vegetables (various fresh and processed)
-Pulses (chickpeas/garbanzo beans, lentils, yellow peas)
-Cotton
-Soybean Oil
-Ethanol (for non-fuel industrial purposes)
-Wine & Spirits

US Agricultural Products Which Bharat WILL NOT ALLOW Even After Feb 2026 Trade Deal:

-Dairy Products
-Poultry
-Genetically Modified (GM) Products (such as GM soy or corn)
-Soybeans (whole grain)
-Corn (maize)
-Rice
-Wheat
-Sugar
-Beef
-Ethanol for Fuel Blending

NOTE- Pulses, Soybean Oil & Cotton are imported depending upon shortfall of production in Bharat to bridge demand-supply gap. Also... Bharatiya Farmers are protected with MSP in case of fall of prices due to any reasons.

AB SAMZA TRUMP KYA AUR KYON BOLA?

If Yes—your doubts are solved.
If Not—your Piddi status remains same.

[A_Gupta]

Sri Piyush Goyal in Parliament on the trade deal, the Hindustan Times live blog:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 87991.html

[Amber G.]

Just sharing...a recent NYTimesarticle, TAG partner Nisha Biswal says the U.S.-India agreement has removed “an enormous irritant” and opens up a path for potential future cooperation and convergence.

Trump and India Call Off Their Trade War, but the Terms of Peace Are Murky

Meanwhile DARKEST DAYS for -- Washington Post Announces Massive Layoffs – One-Third of Staff Cut in Historic PURGE amid financial woes.

300 journalists out of -800 newsroom hit.

The WaPo has now laid off its Asia editor, its New Delhi bureau chief...many more

[A_Gupta]

The WaPo didn’t ask the question “who is likely to read and subscribe to us?” Instead they tried to answer the question (and no doubt this was a business compulsion for Bezos) “what might keep Trump off our backs?”

[drnayar]

Just sharing...a recent NYTimesarticle, TAG partner Nisha Biswal says the U.S.-India agreement has removed “an enormous irritant” and opens up a path for potential future cooperation and convergence.

Trump and India Call Off Their Trade War, but the Terms of Peace Are Murky

Meanwhile DARKEST DAYS for -- Washington Post Announces Massive Layoffs – One-Third of Staff Cut in Historic PURGE amid financial woes.

300 journalists out of -800 newsroom hit.

The WaPo has now laid off its Asia editor, its New Delhi bureau chief...many more
[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HAVUVJea8AAP6W3?format=jpg[/img

since when does viewership / subscriptions matter for billionaire owned media., they are in the business of promoting narratives , not news ? i guess a similar story runs across whole of printed "journalism" not just WaPo

[g.sarkar]

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/t ... linewidget
Trampoline Trump puts Modi govt in a bind: Can neither boast, nor debunk
President Donald Trump has put the Modi government in a spot by jumping to announce the finalisation of the India-US trade deal. He has exposed the government to attacks for at least the time it makes the deal details public.
Yudhajit Shankar Das, New Delhi, Feb 4, 2026
This is one big risk that the world of personality-based diplomacy and politics is exposed to. And no leader is riskier here than US President Donald Trump. Giving two hoots to protocol, Trump jumps up and down in glee — much like a kid on a trampoline — to announce deals from his personal social media accounts. The story gets repeated, and the Narendra Modi government has become the latest victim of Trampoline Trump. At least till the time the details of the India-US trade deal are made public.
One would expect politics after the details of the deal were out. But here, politics has begun in the absence of anything concrete. All thanks to Trump.
....
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has tried at least thrice in the last two days to reassure that the final deal, when inked, will be in India's best interests. However, the lack of details has handed the Congress a good political opportunity.
.....
Gautam

[Amber G.]

So the news is many who were routinely assigned to target India and abuse PM Modi are being laid off...
Back-to-back pro Modi stories by The Economists and now this....

Interesting..!!!

[Amber G.]

Also interesting... lot of stories eg:
Won't be bullied, will wait out Trump term for trade deal, Doval told Rubio

The Modi government had conveyed to the US in early September 2025 that it was willing to wait out the Trump presidential term if needed on the India-US trade deal. This tough line was conveyed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by India NSA Ajit Doval, according to a Bloomberg report. The report on the meeting and the mellowing down of Trump and his aides after that gives a new perspective to the debate over the India-US trade deal.

Dhurandhar level foreign policy

[Amber G.]

Also sharing
India-US trade deal: How Delhi's behind-the-scenes push cracked Trump tariff wall

[Amber G.]

The WaPo didn’t ask the question “who is likely to read and subscribe to us?” Instead they tried to answer the question (and no doubt this was a business compulsion for Bezos) “what might keep Trump off our backs?”

But did they have to be so cruel


And this after so much begging to Videshi Malik despite doing so many hit jobs on India ..

[Amber G.]

ToI story:
Mover, shaker, and beggars': Pakistan's national meltdown over the India-US trade deal

The received wisdom in Washington circles has been that Pakistan has ‘played’ Donald Trump better than its Indian counterpart. This has included praising Donald Trump to high heavens at every turn, nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize with every breath, offering him (snake?) oil, and in general agreeing to anything including joining the Board of Peace.
Perhaps, Pakistan felt it had returned to its older role of indispensable intermediary as New Delhi remained the insouciant child who refused to bow to Trump’s diktats. Overnight, the illusion shattered as Trump announced the US had reached a trade agreement with India lowering tariffs on India’s exports to 18%. While most of the details about the deal are still being worked out, that didn’t stop a full-blown meltdown on Pakistani (or South Asian)

One viral tweet summed up the mood: “Mover, shaker, and beggars.”:

That, in hindsight, is what makes the trade deal so destabilising for Pakistan’s narrative. India did not win by courting Trump better. It won by not courting him at all.

[Jay]

Don't let the door hit you on your way out, pranshu. Onto another teet to suck on that anti-india hate.

[Amber G.]

News Clip: Today U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, with the cooperation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, announced the seizure of more than 200 website domains tied to an India-based transnational criminal organization (TCO) working within the United States and allegedly responsible for at least six fatal and four non-fatal overdoses. The TCO tied to these illegal online pharmacies has been under investigation by DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division since 2022.Link <link>

[Amber G.]

Alphabet is plotting to dramatically expand its presence in India, with the possibility of taking millions of square feet in new office space in Bangalore, India’s tech hub

Google just told you the H-1B math broke and nobody’s talking about what that means for US tech employment.

2.4 million square feet across three towers in Bangalore’s Whitefield corridor. Capacity for 20,000 new employees. That would more than double Google’s entire India headcount from 14,000 to 34,000.

Trump’s H-1B proclamation raised visa fees from ~$4,500 to $100,000 per new petition. Google files thousands of H-1B applications per year. At the old rate, sponsoring 1,000 engineers cost roughly $4.5M. At the new rate, that same cohort costs $100M. For that $100M, Google can lease 2.4 million square feet in Bangalore and employ those same engineers at Indian market salaries for years..

[A_Gupta]

^^^
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2026 ... pharmacies

Leveraging its global reach, DEA actively collaborates with our Government of India law enforcement partners to identify, investigate, and dismantle dangerous criminal organizations that engage in these types of illegal drug trafficking operations. Through joint operations, the DEA will continue to pursue significant enforcement actions against illicit pharmaceutical distributors at the source and remains steadfast in its efforts to disrupt the flow of illicit pharmaceuticals that threaten public health and safety of American citizens.

DEA issued a Public Service Announcement in 2024 warning Americans about an increase in illegal online pharmacies. Many of these online pharmacies sold and shipped counterfeit pills made with fentanyl to unsuspecting customers in the United States who believed they were purchasing legitimate medications from legitimate pharmacies.

Illegal online pharmacies often use U.S.-based website addresses and professional-looking designs to appear legitimate when, in fact, they are not. These companies operate illegally, deliberately deceiving American customers into believing they are legally purchasing safe, regulated medications. Many of the sites taken down as part of Operation Meltdown claimed to be legitimate, based in the U.S., and FDA-approved, but DEA’s investigation determined operators of these sites were often working with drug traffickers to fulfill online orders with counterfeit pills or diverted pharmaceuticals. These counterfeit medications are often made with fentanyl or methamphetamine and taking them can lead to serious health risks, including harmful side effects, ineffective treatment, and even death.

[chetak]

India was ready to wait out Trump’s tenure if he didn’t dial down anti-India rhetoric, Doval told Rubio that the Modi govt won’t be bullied


https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 913559.cms

[Amber G.]

He keeps bragging about passing a test where you point at a zebra and say “zebra.” The fact that he brings it up over and over is the part that should worry everyone. How many cognitive tests does this guy take in a year?

[Amber G.]

News clip: U.S, Texas Governor has formally designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)—the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization—as a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANISATION under Texas state law.

[A_Gupta]

^^^ That happened in November.

Governor Abbott Designates Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR As Foreign Terrorist Organizations

November 18, 2025 | Austin, Texas | Press Release
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governo ... anizations

[Amber G.]

^^^ Sorry for not being clear .. to clarify:
The clip I noted (and should have said) is significant legal escalation that occurred today, February 5, 2026.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton officially filed a lawsuit in Collin County seeking to permanently shut down and ban the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood from operating within the state of Texas.

Timeline of Events
November 18, 2025: Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation formally designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (FTOs) and "Transnational Criminal Organizations" under Texas state law.
January 28, 2026: Governor Abbott sent a letter to the Attorney General demanding the state strip CAIR of its nonprofit status and eliminate its ability to operate in Texas.

February 5, 2026 (Today): The Attorney General’s office acted on those demands by filing the lawsuit.

(Mote: As of now, as I check and believe, CAIR remains a legally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit at the federal level, and the U.S. State Department has not followed Texas's lead in this designation)

[A_Gupta]

Add to that timeline: December 23, 2025
December 23, 2025 | Press Release
Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Takes Legal Action in Law­suit Involv­ing the Ter­ror­ist Orga­ni­za­tion CAIR
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/ne ... ation-cair
To read the filing: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/si ... Answer.pdf

[A_Gupta]

MEA denies reports of Doval-Rubio meeting.
https://youtu.be/KUY3iN5Ke2Q?si=VUMZEGEagJdpyX7F