The customs agreement comes as a surprise at first glance – Modi recently sought proximity to Putin. But the USA remains an important partner.
D The fact that India and the USA are now moving towards a tariff agreement is a signal. Washington and Delhi have been negotiating a free trade agreement for almost eleven months. That of all things the lengthy talks with the EU were concluded more quicklyhad to do with the tense relationship between India and the US. Provocative statements by Donald Trump – including the claim that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan – had brought relations to a low point.
What is even more remarkable is that Now there is movement again in the discussions. The high-level visit from Brussels at the end of January may have acted as a catalyst – Washington may have had the impression that it was falling behind the EU.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had other priorities. He only received Vladimir Putin in Delhi at the beginning of December. Despite the war in Ukraine, Western sanctions and growing geopolitical tensions, Modi is sticking to relations with Russia. But this proximity should not obscure the fact that Modi’s economic focus has long been directed elsewhere.
The country has been orienting itself towards the west for years: free trade agreements with the Efta states, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and most recently the EU mark this orientation. If the USA were to join in, that would be the current high point of this strategy.
However, the rapprochement in India is also viewed critically, even if many companies are breathing a sigh of relief as the massive tariffs on Indian goods are falling from 50 to 18 percent. There are many indications that Delhi has given in to pressure from Washington. It just doesn’t work without the USA. The economic connections and dependencies are too close, and millions of Indians work in the USA. Modi likes to invoke strategic autonomy in foreign policy. In reality, however, it turns out that when things get serious, India orients itself towards the West. Not necessarily out of loyalty, but more out of calculation.
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