- People closely following the fast-unfolding geopolitical and geostrategic occurrences in the last year or so, ever since Donald Trump assumed office for the second time, must be wondering how far the disruptions caused by the president of the USA would be harming the established international world order. Without any hesitation whatsoever, Donald Trump could be aptly termed the modern-day disruptor who doesn’t care about diplomatic niceties or the consequences of the bullying behaviour he has unleashed on global leadership. In his quest to Make America Great Again, the maverick president has unleashed a Frankenstein’s monster who will continue to debilitate the world’s economies even more unless better sense prevails now.
PC: ddnews.gov.in
- Amid this background, several countries – major and minor – are making a beeline to strike free trade agreements that would help sustain the severe stress on their economies because of Trump’s tariff war. India has been one of the most affected countries in the tariff war, with the USA imposing 50% tariff on the nation. This being the case, it was natural for the Indian leadership to look around and speed up long-pending pacts to ease the burden domestically. Thus, the India-US pact announced recently should make both entities feel a huge burden off their shoulders. Nonetheless, it’s only a pact announced and will take months before signing the deal.
PC: News18
- Chief Guest at R-Day parade, EU’s chief bureaucrat, Ursula von der Leyen, remarked that a successful India made the world better. Only recently, the EU was dissing India for buying Russian energy, while buying it itself. And, by the way, it took the EU and India 18 years, a very long time even for two entities infamous for their bureaucracies, to get close to a deal. Let’s look at the basics: at $136.5bn in 2024-25, the EU is already India’s largest goods trading partner. The deal, per some reports, may see India cutting tariffs sharply on EU-made cars. India may get zero-duty access for its labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, apparel, and gems. Even the EU’s trade barriers – CBAMs aka green export rules – are in the final stages of resolution.
PC: The Hindu
- If pushed over the finishing line, this would be a pretty big deal, with plenty for both parties to be happy about. It may goad Trump to rage about India and Europe or to do a deal with India or both. Trump gets credit for being the reason the deal may get done after all. As Davos showed, the Euro-Atlantic alliance is strained like never before, forcing the European bloc to wake up and smell the coffee, and now Chai. Gone are those comfy days when American military muscle would backstop Europe, while the Brussels elite would sip wine and admonish the Global South, sometimes India included, for failing on democracy and human rights. Of course, there are plenty of grey areas to be covered in the proposed pact. But pragmatism can now replace preaching.
