Modi Agrees to Trump’s Diktats on Trade & Tariff

On 12–13 Feb, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump at the White House, where they announced a deal making the US a top oil and gas supplier to India and discussed F-35 fighter jet sales. Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, singling out India for imposing high duties on US goods. Discussions covered expanding bilateral trade to USD 500B by 2030, nuclear collaboration, technology transfer and synergy, and possible cooperation on Artificial Intelligence and critical minerals. If India follows Trumps diktats it will have to forgo cheaper Russian oil and turn its back on the Russian offer to build fighter jets locally. The offer from both US and Russia has come at a time when the Indian Air Force's squadrons have fallen to 31 from an approved strength of 42. Before Modi arrived at Washington, Trump had signed the executive order pausing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 for at least 180 days, until the US Attorney General completes a review of the legislation. This is a possible relief to industrialist Gautam Adani who is deemed to be close to Modi and is being investigated for bribery in the US. Trump also approved extradition of 2008 Mumbai terror suspect Tahawwur Rana, signalling counterterror cooperation. With renewed impetus on forging robust Indo-US ties, the question remains whether human rights and diaspora safety will receive adequate attention alongside economic deals, defense pacts, and diplomatic breakthroughs. In the meeting between the premiers, neither did the US treatment of illegal Indian migrants come up, nor did the leaders discuss India’s transnational repression of Sikh activists in the US or the case against India on the attempt to assassinate Sikhs for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.