'We will work together for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries and shape a better future for the world.'
As Donald Trump registered a historic comeback in the US presidential election, many former Indian diplomats on Wednesday concurred that the India-US ties will "continue to grow" from strength to strength, even as some of them cautioned that Trump is "highly unpredictable" and New Delhi will have to "wait and watch" to see what position he adopts going forward.
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Former US President Obama was featured wearing a number of ensembles some gladiator-inspired and a basketball one among others.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday pledged to strengthen the strategic relationships with neighbouring countries by 'appropriately' managing differences and enhancing supply chain ties as China's tariff war with the United States escalated.
Trump made these remarks after Elon Musk-led DOGE's (Department of Government Efficiency) disclosed that USAID contributed USD 21 million to Election Commission for boosting voter turnout.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the United States after holding high-level bilateral talks with President Donald Trump on a wide range of subjects, including trade and technology, defence and security, energy and people-to-people ties. The two leaders decided to take a significant step in deepening their strategic ties, particularly in the areas of defence, energy, and critical technology. Modi also met with key American officials, including National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and prominent business leaders like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
'If she hadn't left Bangladesh, the militants had planned on killing her'
If Xi Jinping can establish control over the PLA Ground Force, relations between India and China will settle down to an even keel. The next few weeks will show whether Xi has finally succeeded in gaining control over the PLA Ground Force. That could bring about the substantive shift in India-China relations that both our leaders have been working for, observes Ambassador Prabhat Shukla.
'Trump has no more elections to fight and his soaring ambition, which is no secret, will be to carve out a presidential legacy that outshines by far all his mediocre predecessors.' 'Trump's turnaround on the H-1B visa debate shows that he can take tough decisions and there are no holy cows in his domain,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump administration's chief negotiator Brendan Lynch is arriving in India to hold talks on the India-US bilateral trade deal, which were impacted after the US imposed 50 per cent import tariffs on Indian goods.
India has firmly rejected any involvement of a third party in its border dispute with China, declining an offer of mediation from US President Donald Trump. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri emphasized India's commitment to resolving bilateral issues through direct dialogue, stating that New Delhi has always maintained a bilateral approach in dealing with such matters. This stance underscores India's position that the border dispute with China should be addressed through direct negotiations between the two countries.
The defence minister, without naming anyone, said some people are not liking the rapid development of India and are unable to digest it.
'Trump is good news for us. Energy poverty is real, and fossil fuels are the answer.'
India-US relations, like Rome, were not built in a day, nor can they be demolished in a day.
All said and done, when the new global order emerges, India can only remain with the democracies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people, expressing solidarity with India. The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. The attack came during US Vice President J D Vance's maiden visit to India. Prime Minister Modi, who had arrived in Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit earlier in the day, cut short his visit and departed for New Delhi on Tuesday night following the attack.
'I certainly hope the two can avoid a trade war and believe they will.' 'I expect some in India will push for retaliatory tariffs if the Trump administration applies significant reciprocal tariffs.'
'There are very few issues and a political call needs to be taken about some of them.'
Modi is the fourth foreign leader hosted by Trump in the weeks after his inauguration last month.
'What we are willing to do is definitely going to depend on what the Indian government wants to do.'
'There is no question that Putin's preference will be to avoid unpleasantness with Trump, leave alone a collision course,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
An hour before his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump again commented on India's tariff structure, saying 'they have the highest tariffs' and 'it is a hard place to do business'.
'While the President has been critical of India, he has gone out of his way to compliment PM Modi. They have an incredible relationship.'
India needs another shot of difficult reform, of the kind only possible at gunpoint. Mr Trump holds that gun to our heads now. A drastic reduction in tariff protection, other elements of sarkari wet-nursing will force entrepreneurial India to become competitive again, argues Shekhar Gupta.
'He needs to see results while he is in office.'
A day before US President Donald Trump's additional 25 per cent tariff kicks in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a vehement pitch for swadeshi and Make in India that should help create jobs in the country.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The touchstone is reciprocity which will be applied to friends and foes alike.' 'It will be a bitter pill to swallow.'
Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, has urged President Donald Trump to help ease tensions with India, highlighting the Kashmir issue as a "flash point" in nuclear terms. He believes that the US should take a more comprehensive and sustained approach to address the situation rather than just immediate de-escalatory measures.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have a substantive engagement on the sidelines of the Quad summit on Saturday, and the two sides will sign at least two agreements following the talks.
New Delhi 'will have to take a call which supply source suits us the best,' the finance minister said, pointing out that crude oil accounts for the bulk of India's foreign exchange spend.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Parliament's Monsoon session is like a 'Vijay Utsav' as the Indian armed forces achieved their objectives under Operation Sindoor 100 per cent, and expressed confidence that the MPs will articulate this sentiment in one voice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in Washington on Thursday. US President Donald Trump has chosen Musk to head a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month. Musk arrived at Blair House with his three young children, who were sitting with Musk when he met Modi. Earlier, Modi met US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. The meeting with Waltz was the first engagement of the day. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval were also present at the meeting. Modi arrived in the US capital Wednesday evening for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. After arriving at Blair House, the President's Guest House, Modi met the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Just hours before her meeting with Modi, Gabbard took the oath of office as the 8th Director of National Intelligence in the presence of Trump.
A leading expert predicts that the incoming Trump administration will likely continue its pro-India policies, including the Indo-Pacific strategy and Quad, but highlights potential challenges such as trade disagreements, immigration issues, and a possible quid pro quo for technology sharing. The expert also notes that the Trump 2.0 administration may prioritize great power politics over strategic altruism, potentially impacting human rights and religious freedom concerns.
Soon after Kharge's remarks, Tharoor put out a cryptic post on X in which there was an image of a bird with the caption --"Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one..."
BJP strategists are missing something somewhere, and they have not acknowledged it, to be able to repair it in good time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jaishankar said that Rahul Gandhi's lies damage India at an international level.
Of Trump's reciprocal tariffs and trade deals
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Indian-American billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in Washington, D.C., discussing India-US relations, innovation, biotechnology, and the role of entrepreneurship. Modi also met with US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard during his visit.
