STEADYING THE SHIP

With Trump imposing punitive trade tariffs on India and wooing Pakistan, India has a tough task at hand reassessing diplomatic priorities. Indians endorse an approach that places national interest first

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

In the realm of foreign policy, India had an eventful half-year that may well reshape its future course. The first inflection point came in May, when the government launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, accompanied by a carefully calibrated diplomatic effort to rally international support. Soon after came a far more unpredictable variable: a sledgehammer called Donald Trump.

Jeopardising the India-US strategic partnership is Trump's characteristically unilateral move to slap a 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, citing its unjustifiably high tariff regime. More damaging still was an additional 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods, ostensibly in retaliation for New Delhi's continued purchases of discounted Russian oil, bringing the total tariff burden to a bruising 50 per cent. This economic broadside has done more than rattle markets; it has imperilled India's delicate balancing act between its historical ties with Moscow and its growing strategic alignment with Washington. Adding to New Delhi’s anxieties is Trump's abrupt diplomatic courtship of Pakistan, rekindling fears of a regional encirclement as relations with China remain tense and Bangladesh drifts away from India's orbit.