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New foreign policy for a news world

New foreign policy for a news world

Sooner than later, India will have to make a choice where it stands. Perhaps more important, what India stands for.
The Narendra Modi government's policy of multi-alignment brought good results for the country's foreign policy for most of Modi's time as prime minister. But with Donald Trump acting like a bull in the china shop of world order, multi-alignment, at its best, has exhausted all possibilities. It was inventive while it lasted.
India needs a new foreign policy. Exposed to the scorching heat of Trump's assaults on the existing order, the old policy is now like wine that tastes of wet cardboard. It emits an aroma similar to spoilt vinegar. The existing policy is no longer sustainable.
Repackaging it in shimmering new Bohemian crystal will not make the old wine any better. It will not be potable, although the new bottle may draw praise. The old policy must be discarded. Or else, South Block will be stranded by the receding tide of history.
In six months, Trump has decisively pulled the world away from multilateralism or even from plurilateral ways of advancing foreign policy. This may change if Trump does not complete his term for any reason, or if the next US president is either a Republican in the conventional mould or a Democrat. But India cannot wait for that. The challenge of adapting the country's foreign policy to the new global realities is urgent. Every single day's delay entails opportunity costs for 1.4 billion Indians whose aspirations, no longer circumscribed by the nation's borders, are at stake.
India's biggest contribution at the recent BRICS summit in the enchanting city of Rio de Janeiro was to propose a new expansion of that acronym. As India prepares to succeed Brazil as BRICS chair, Modi told his co-leaders at the summit: 'Our goal will be to redefine BRICS as Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability.' That means BRICS will no longer be Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa. But in the Trump era, it falls short of hard bargains and transactional foreign policy. Modi is obsessed with catchy acronyms—his administration is peppered with them.
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How Trump got the upper hand over the EU on tariffs
How Trump got the upper hand over the EU on tariffs

Mint

time22 minutes ago

  • Mint

How Trump got the upper hand over the EU on tariffs

Soon after he sat down to negotiate Sunday with European officials on a potential tariff agreement at his Scotland golf club, President Trump said he wanted assurances that Europe would follow through on its pledges to increase investment in the U.S. Trump questioned how the U.S. could be sure European companies wouldn't shrug off their plans, which came with a 15% levy on EU imports into the U.S. rather than the 30% Trump had threatened, according to people familiar with the matter. After EU leaders assured him that the investment plans they were talking about were real, Trump responded: 'prove it," according to one of the people. EU officials rattled off the names of European companies they said were already prepared to invest. With a trade deal in place, planned investments of almost $200 billion would grow by even more, they told Trump. At the end of the talks, Trump said the EU would now be investing $600 billion in the U.S. as part of the deal, which also included a plan to buy $750 billion of American energy products from the U.S. over three years. European officials said the $600 billion figure is based on private companies' investment plans. The agreement, widely seen as a victory for Trump, marked the culmination of monthslong talks between America and its largest trading partner and offered the biggest signal yet that nations see America's tariff regime as more permanent than temporary. The pact followed a shift in thinking by the Europeans: EU officials in recent talks sought to contain the damage the duties will inflict on the bloc's companies and economy, rather than try to negotiate the tariffs away outright. Tariffs of 15% are 'certainly a challenge for some," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. 'But we should not forget it keeps [the EU's] access to the American market." Just before Trump and von der Leyen met Sunday to iron out the agreement, Trump aides called European officials to solidify that part of the talks would focus on the EU giving U.S. companies better access to the bloc's markets, according to a person familiar with the matter. The EU's decision to accept Trump's 15% level for tariffs marked a contrast to its initial, more adversarial approach. After Trump imposed in March 25% levies for steel and aluminum, the bloc started preparing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, including American products such as peanut butter and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Some of the products were chosen to try to maximize political pain for Trump, an EU official said when the bloc's list was announced that month. After the U.K. in May got a deal that pegged tariffs to 10%, Trump's global baseline for duties, some European officials were dismissive. 'If the U.K.-U.S. deal is what Europe gets, then the U.S. can expect countermeasures from our side," Benjamin Dousa, Sweden's minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade, said at the time. But European officials eventually came to view 10% as a minimum level. They noticed Trump administration officials talking about the revenue the tariffs were pulling in. 'It was more and more clear that President Trump is dead serious about significantly transforming the landscape of global trade," EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told The Wall Street Journal on Monday, adding, 'the status quo of going back to last year, or before April 2, simply is not possible." As the EU tried to adapt, it relied heavily on Šefčovič to lead political discussions with U.S. officials. Since February, he has traveled to Washington seven times to meet with U.S. trade officials and had more than 100 hours of contact with them over recent months, including frequent phone and video calls. On one occasion about a week before Trump and von der Leyen's meeting in Scotland, Šefčovič said he spent half of a roughly 700-mile road trip to his home country of Slovakia talking with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, with his two golden retrievers panting in the back seat. At one point, 'I said Howard, it's not me," Šefčovič said of the dogs' heavy breathing. When he needed to find documents to help with the discussion, Šefčovič looked for parking lots with a Wi-Fi signal, during what turned out to be a crucial late-stage discussion ahead of the leaders' sit-down in Scotland. A major inflection point in the talks came in May, when Trump threatened on social media to apply a 50% tariff on the bloc. 'Our discussions with them are going nowhere," Trump said at the time. After a phone call with von der Leyen two days later, he said he would hold off on that threat. The bloc shifted its approach. It presented U.S. trade officials with a proposal that included plans to increase purchases of American energy products and an offer to lower tariffs for certain U.S. imports, people familiar with the matter said. Greer said in early June that the EU had provided 'a credible starting point" for talks between the two economies. Then on July 12 Trump published a letter on social media saying he would put 30% tariffs on the bloc in early August. The development was unexpected for European officials who had hoped they were close to a deal. Days after the letter was posted, Šefčovič told Fox News, in comments that foreshadowed the eventual deal, that the EU was prepared to significantly increase purchases of U.S. energy products including oil, liquefied natural gas and nuclear fuel, and to spend about $40 billion on artificial intelligence chips. He also said the EU was looking at about $500 billion in EU companies investments in the U.S. over a three-year period. Ahead of the Scotland meeting, Šefčovič sought advice from Japan's chief negotiator to get a better sense of what to expect, people familiar with the matter said. He learned that Japan's final-stage talks with Trump went beyond surface level discussions and delved into the details of the agreement. The Europeans hunkered down in a hotel in Glasgow on Sunday to discuss what kind of messaging would be most effective during the meeting with Trump, a person familiar with their preparations said. They showed up ready to talk specifics: including examples of companies' planned U.S. investments. Write to Kim Mackrael at and Brian Schwartz at

We'll wipe it out faster: Trump again warns Iran over nuclear enrichment
We'll wipe it out faster: Trump again warns Iran over nuclear enrichment

India Today

time22 minutes ago

  • India Today

We'll wipe it out faster: Trump again warns Iran over nuclear enrichment

US President Donald Trump has again warned Iran against its nuclear enrichment activities, weeks after launching strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites. Speaking at a press conference in Scotland alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said Iran was "sending very bad signals, very nasty signals.""They shouldn't be doing that," Trump said. "We wiped out their nuclear possibilities. They can start again. If they do, we'll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it. We will do that gladly, openly and gladly."advertisementTrump's warning comes after Iran's announcement to continue enriching uranium for civilian purposes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the development last week during talks with the UK, France, and Germany. Araghchi said that uranium enrichment is Iran's right, and it is necessary for medical and energy use. After Trump's remarks, Araghchi responded, saying, "Iran will never respond to the language of threat and intimidation," he said, adding that the country "will not hesitate to react in a more decisive manner" if attacked again. Araghchi repeated that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful in nature and meant for civilian and medical use CALLS IRAN 'STUPID'Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also issued warning on Sunday. "If you continue to threaten Israel, our long arm will reach Tehran again with even greater power – and this time personally to you, too," he said, addressing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali had earlier claimed that the US strikes on Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities in June had "obliterated" the country's nuclear program. However, intelligence reports suggest that the damage might not have been as extensive as initially claimed. The reports say the program has only been set back by a few the weekend, Trump criticised Iran's ongoing efforts to enrich uranium, calling it "stupid." He also accused Iran of interfering in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Qatar. "I think they got involved in this negotiation, telling Hamas and giving Hamas signals and orders," he his first term, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal involving Iran and world powers. The deal had limited Iran's nuclear activities in return for lifting international sanctions. After Trump's withdrawal from the agreement, Iran resumed enriching uranium beyond the limits set in the JCPOA.- EndsWith inputs from AgenciesMust Watch

No phone call between Modi and Trump during military actions, EAM Jaishankar tells Parliament
No phone call between Modi and Trump during military actions, EAM Jaishankar tells Parliament

Hindustan Times

time22 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

No phone call between Modi and Trump during military actions, EAM Jaishankar tells Parliament

New Delhi : India's military response to the Pahalgam terror attack has created a 'new normal' for fighting cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan that includes confining bilateral talks to terrorism and not giving in to nuclear blackmail, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Monday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar speaks during a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, at the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday, July 28, 2025. (PTI) Participating in a special debate on Operation Sindoor in Parliament, Jaishankar said India's new approach is based on a five-point approach, which makes it clear that 'terror and good neighbourliness cannot co-exist [and] blood and water cannot flow together'. He said there was no phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump during those crucial weeks and rejected any links to trade. He also said other than Pakistan and three nations, most of the 193 United Nations members had backed India's position and said the recent designation of the The Resistance Front –– which claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack –– as a global terrorist organisation came after the Centre's efforts. 'The challenge of cross-border terrorism continues but Operation Sindoor marks a new phase. There is now a new normal. The new normal has five points. One, terrorists will not be treated as proxies. Two, cross-border terrorism will get an appropriate response. Three, terror and talks are not possible together. There will only be talks on terror,' Jaishankar said at the conclusion of his intervention in Lok Sabha. 'Four, not yielding to nuclear blackmail. And finally, terror and good neighbourliness cannot coexist, blood and water cannot flow together. This is our position.' Jaishankar, who spoke on the foreign policy dimension of India's response to the Pahalgam attack, made it clear that the understanding to halt military actions on May 10 was reached by the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan – thereby implying that Trump had played no role in the matter. He said there was no contact between Modi and Trump between April 22, when the US leader called to condemn the Pahalgam attack, and June 17, when the two leaders spoke on phone after they were unable to meet on the margins of the G7 Summit in Canada. 'I want to make two things very clear… One, at no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage with trade and what was going on. Secondly, there was no call between the Prime Minister and President Trump from April 22, when President Trump called up to convey his sympathy, and June 17, when he called up Prime Minister in Canada to explain why he could not meet [Modi], Jaishankar said. Trump has claimed on more than 20 occasions that he brokered a 'ceasefire' between India and Pakistan as they are nuclear-armed states. While the military hostilities were on, a number of countries and leaders contacted the Indian side to ascertain the thinking in New Delhi. 'To everybody, we gave a common message [that] India is exercising its right to defend itself against terrorism [and there] will be no mediation,' he said. Though India announced a range of punitive measures against Pakistan a day after the Pahalgam attack, including keeping the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance and shutting down the only operational land border crossing at Attari, Jaishankar said India's response could 'not stop there'. He added, 'Our red lines had been crossed and we had to make it very apparent that there would be serious consequences.' Before launching Operation Sindoor, Jaishankar said, India began 'shaping the global understanding' of the Pahalgam attack by highlighting to the world community Pakistan's long-standing use of cross-border terror, and how the attack was 'meant to target the economy of Jammu and Kashmir and to sow communal discord among the people of India'. India faced a challenge in these efforts because Pakistan is currently a member of the UN Security Council. However, India worked to get an endorsement from the Security Council of the need for accountability and to bring to justice those who perpetrated the Pahalgam attack, he said. This came in the form of the council's press statement of April 25, which condemned the attack and underlined the need to hold the perpetrators, organisers, financers and sponsors of the attack accountable. The government's efforts also led to the recent US designation of TRF as a global terrorist organisation, which came after the Pakistan government blocked any reference to the terror group at the UN Security Council.

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