Donald Trump says India-US trade deal close, warns Pakistan tension
President Trump announced the U.S. is nearing a trade deal with India, while Pakistan is expected in Washington for talks. He cautioned that conflict between India and Pakistan could jeopardize these negotiations. These developments occur amid heightened tensions and potential tariffs on Pakistani exports, as India and the U.S. aim for an interim trade deal by early July.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
US President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States is 'very close to making a deal with India,' while also confirming that a representative from Pakistan is expected to visit Washington for talks next week. Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Trump said, 'Pakistan representatives are coming in next week. We're very close to making a deal with India.'However, he warned that any ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan could derail such negotiations. 'And I wouldn't have any interest in making a deal with either if they were going to be at war with each other,' he said.His comments came amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, following India's May 10 'Operation Sindoor' — a counterstrike in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people.In parallel, the United States has announced worldwide tariffs, which could now apply to Pakistani exports due to its $3 billion trade surplus with the US. Pakistani goods could be subjected to tariffs of up to 29%.Amid these developments, Indian Union minister Piyush Goyal recently visited Washington to push forward bilateral trade negotiations. Both nations are aiming to conclude an interim deal by early July. This comes in the backdrop of a looming 26% tariff on Indian exports to the US.The ministry of external affairs has confirmed that India's foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited the United States from May 27 to 29. The Indian Embassy called his meeting with US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau a 'great first meeting' that addressed a broad range of shared priorities between the two countries.Meanwhile, Reuters reported last week that India is likely to open up its government procurement market to American companies. The expected move would allow US firms to bid for contracts worth over $50 billion, largely from federal agencies, as part of the ongoing trade discussions with Washington.Earlier, Trump had again claimed that US trade discussions with both India and Pakistan helped prevent a nuclear disaster. 'We talk trade, and we say we can't trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons… They understood and they agreed, and that all stopped,' Trump said.'I think the deal I'm most proud of is the fact that we're dealing with India, we're dealing with Pakistan, and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed to bullets. You know, normally they do it through bullets. We do it through trade. So I'm very proud of that. Nobody talks about it. But we had a very nasty potential war going on between Pakistan and India. And now, if you look, they're doing fine,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Back in public eye: Madhya Pradesh minister who put party in a spot with remarks on Col Sofiya Qureshi
After his remarks on Operation Sindoor caused an uproar, Madhya Pradesh Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah made his first public appearance in 17 days when he visited the family of a rape-murder victim in Khandwa. Shah was booked by the Madhya Pradesh Police last month after saying in a public meeting in Mhow on May 11 that India taught a lesson to those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack using 'their own sister'. While he did not name anyone, it has been alleged that he was alluding to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media when Operation Sindoor was underway. The minister is now under investigation by a Supreme Court-ordered special investigation team (SIT), and had not been seen in public until May 28, when he visited the grieving family of a woman who was gangraped and murdered in Khandwa district's Khalwa region. Both the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court have reprimanded the minister for his statement, and Shah has apologised for the comments three times. The ruling BJP went into damage control mode, and the central leadership of the party is yet to take a call on Shah's future. While his visit to Khandwa on May 28 marks his first public outing since the backlash, he did not speak to the media. Local BJP sources said Shah spent over two hours with the victim's family and promised both financial support and systemic interventions. He reportedly handed over a Rs 60,000 cheque, committed to building a tin roof for the family's house, and promised further financial assistance, sources said. 'He also said that a young girl in the family who had dropped out of school would be re-enrolled. Monthly monitoring meetings are to be initiated in the area to track school dropouts,' a BJP leader said. The Opposition Congress had launched a sarcastic 'missing minister' campaign, plastering posters across Indore and Bhopal with his photograph and a mock reward of Rs 11,000 for anyone who could find him. During this period, Shah skipped the special Cabinet meeting in the historic Rajwada palace to commemorate regional icon, Ahilyabai Holkar, on May 20 and another special Cabinet meeting hosted in the scenic town of Pachmarhi on Tuesday, to honour tribal icon and freedom fighter, Raja Bhabhoot Singh. Shah had also skipped the 300th birth anniversary events of Ahilyabai Holkar, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had arrived in Bhopal on May 31. The Supreme Court has extended the operation of its interim order protecting Shah from arrest. It also closed the suo motu proceedings pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court as it is already seized of the matter. The SIT had submitted its report to the Supreme Court, which contained investigation details like forensic evidence, and sought more time for the probe.
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
The Indian common man and the road the happiness
On April 28, Hariman Sharma, a farmer from the hills of Himachal Pradesh, walked up barefoot to Rashtrapati Bhavan's Durbar Hall to receive the Padma Shri from the President of India. He had developed a new variety of apple that could be cultivated in tropical or sub-tropical climate regions, potentially enabling it to be grown almost anywhere in our country. Sharma is not a government scientist or a researcher in a multinational biotech company. He is a common man. What does it mean to be a common man in India? A battle to make ends meet? Stealing moments of happiness before harsh reality creeps up? The World Happiness Index 2025, an initiative of Gallup, the University of Oxford and the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranked India 118th among 147 countries. The ranking is based on people's self-evaluation of their lives. So, we have ranked ourselves lower than most of the world. A large portion of our economy thrives on our perceived unhappiness. From Bollywood to the health-supplement industry, everyone wants us to believe that they can bring joy into our lives. This pursuit of happiness is fuelled not by an inner striving for emancipation but by a confluence of images which seem to suggest a lack of meaning in our lives. With the information revolution, a new and powerful driver of unhappiness has emerged: FOMO. Our addiction to social media keeps us always wanting to not just keep up with our peers, but do better than them. In One-Dimensional Man (1964), Herbert Marcuse prophesied a world in which consumerism and mass media stifle originality. They create a 'blissful slave' , who is kept preoccupied due to the creation and pursuit of 'false needs'. He wasn't completely correct. We are far from being blissful. The pursuit of false needs hasn't been an entirely fulfilling affair. What we need in our lives determines our happiness, and unfortunately, we haven't really been good at identifying these needs, let alone planning a path towards achieving satisfaction. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal ruffled a few sentiments when he chided Indian start-ups for concentrating on food delivery apps when their Chinese counterparts were developing deep tech. What exactly is the need10-minute delivery apps are fulfilling? The need for instant gratification? In contrast, people like Sharma are quietly working towards fulfilling real needs. Hailing from Paniala village in Bilaspur (HP), Sharma observed apple seeds discarded in his backyard take root and grow into a fruit-bearing tree despite the warm, unfriendly climate. This set him off on a journey of experimentation that led to the development of the HRMN-99 apple. Similarly, Arunachalam Muruganantham designed and produced machines that produce low-cost sanitary napkins — these have benefitted 13 million women. He has created over 25,000 jobs with his invention. The movie, Pad Man (2018), winner of a National Award in 2019, was based on his story. Muruganantham was conferred the Padma Shri in 2016. Yanung Jamoh Lego from Arunachal Pradesh has popularised nature's herbal remedies. Her methods offer affordable and culturally rooted healthcare. She has helped revive traditional healing, empowered local women, and promoted sustainable health practices. Over 300,000 patients have been reported cured using her medicines. Yanung was conferred the Padma Shri last year. These stories have another thing in common. The National Innovation Foundation, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology, nurtured their innovations. It has funded and supported 13 such common men and women who have later won the Padma Shri. Our society needs more such organisations. The theme of the World Happiness Report for 2025 is caring and sharing. We need to find more ways as a society to start caring for others around us. The writer is an Indian Revenue Service officer Views are personal
Hindustan Times
17 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
HC orders release of 18-year-old daughter of Bangladeshi national from detention
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday ordered the Mankhurd police to release the 18-year-old daughter of a Bangladeshi national who was detained by the Nirbhaya Cell of the police station for inquiry regarding his citizenship and was later deported to the neighbouring country. A vacation bench of justices Neela Gokhale and Firdosh P Pooniwalla ordered the police to release the teenager immediately, saying her detention was not necessary for the purpose of the inquiry. The court was hearing a petition filed by the 18-year-old girl and her two younger siblings aged 16 and 8 years, who contended that they were born in India and had all requisite documents to prove their Indian citizenship. According to their petition, their father, Dadamiya Khan, had been residing in India for over 37 years. He had married an Indian woman named Mariyam Khan and was working as a cab driver. While all three children were detained by Mankhurd police following a special drive to identify foreign nationals staying illegally in India, the two younger siblings were handed over to their mother after they filed the Habeas Corpus petition. The children's counsel, advocate Siddha Pamecha, submitted their birth certificates showing they had been born in India and said they could not have been detained by the police over their father's allegedly circumspect citizenship. Even Dadamiya Khan was an Indian citizen and had all identity documents like PAN card, ration card and voters' identity card issued by the Election Commission of India, the lawyer said. Advocate Manisha Jagtap, representing the central government, pointed out that in the inquiry conducted by police, Khan had conceded that he was Bangladeshi national and he had illegally entered India as there were no sources of livelihood in his country. While he had been deported, an inquiry was underway regarding his citizenship under relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 as well as the central government's order dated May 2, 2025, the lawyer said, explaining the grounds for which his 18-year-old daughter was detained. The judges, however, felt that it was not necessary for the police to keep the 18-year-old in custody and ordered her immediate release. The court restrained the girl and her two siblings from leaving the court's jurisdiction without prior permission and directed them to be available as and when called by the investigating officer.
