New Delhi's Art Of The Deal

India’s US Trade Deal Forces A Long-Delayed Economic Detox

By Govindraj Ethiraj

The price of admission to the global marketplace is rarely cheap, and for New Delhi, the bill has just arrived in the form of an 18% tariff.

India’s recent Union Budget, which slashed import duties on everything from aircraft components to lithium-ion manufacturing equipment, was the preamble. 

The main event is a trade recalibration with Washington that looks, smells, and feels like the "Art of the Deal" — Trumpian edition.

Under the new terms, the US will levy an 18% tariff on Indian imports. This seems high, compared to the 0% that existed before, but then, context is everything. While the details of the deal are still unclear, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy are protected. 

Shock To The System

Since August, Indian exporters have been staring down the barrel of a 50% tariff. So in the new transactional world of modern trade, 18% is not a defeat, it is a hard-won compromise.

But there will be a shock to the system.  

For decades, the Indian industry has operated behind a comfortable veil of tariff protection. 

That era has been ending, but now it is time to put the pedal to the metal. 

Moreover, protests from domestic incumbents — already alleging a capitulation to Washington — are likely to be deafening.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has little room to manoeuvre. 

The economic indicators have been flashing amber:

Foreign portfolio investments have been in retreat, foreign direct investment has remained moribund and India has spent much of the last year receiving the "cold shoulder" from Washington, a chill that only began to thaw after last week’s India-EU free trade agreement.

By inkling this deal, India is choosing the pain of competition over the slow rot of isolation.

The Kremlin In The Room

But the deal isn't just about nuclear equipment and medical devices; it’s about geopolitics. 

The Kremlin raised its eyebrows after Trump said India would stop buying Russian oil as part of this deal, the reason the US slapped a 25% punitive tariff on imports from India. 

When asked if India might pivot away from Russian oil as part of this new alignment, a Reuters report quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as being diplomatically cautious, noting that Russia "attaches no less importance" to its partnership with Delhi.

The silver lining for India in all this is that this pressure may finally force the domestic reforms that successive governments have kicked down the road. 

Plumbing Time

Further lowering of tariffs on intermediates and final goods will expose the high cost of doing business in India, such as the exorbitant prices for land and commercial electricity.

India has much plumbing to do to unclog its pipes. The speed of starting a company is a favourite talking point in India, but the nightmare of closing one is less talked about.

If the 18% tariff is the stick, the carrot is a level playing field. 

Indian apparel and footwear exporters now find themselves on an even footing with regional rivals in the US market. 

To capitalise on this, India must go beyond paper-tinkering and address the structural plumbing of its economy.

Protectionism is a drug that masks underlying inefficiencies, and until now, India has been raising tariffs in the last decade. 

By signing on the dotted line with Washington and Brussels, India is opting for a painful detox. 

It’s a gamble, but in a world of 50% tariffs and shifting alliances, it’s the only and perhaps best deal in town.

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Designed for senior decision-makers, IFIF 2026 combines on-stage dialogue with curated networking, innovation labs, and collaborative working sessions. The focus is on understanding what is changing, what is working, and what comes next for India’s financial system.

Sensitive Sectors Will Remain Protected In Trade Deal: Piyush Goyal

By Zinal Dedhia

What?

India has secured its agriculture and dairy sectors in the newly announced trade deal with the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday, as New Delhi sought to calm concerns over possible concessions to Washington.

Goyal said the agreement, finalised this week, would create fresh opportunities for Indian exporters while shielding sensitive sectors. “Our farmers, marine exporters and textile industry were under pressure due to higher tariffs,” he said. “India has worked to expand opportunities while protecting sensitive sectors, including agriculture and dairy.”

According to Goyal, the deal will benefit marine products, engineering goods, aircraft spare parts, textiles and MSMEs.

However, trade experts caution that the understanding remains largely verbal. “Tariffs were earlier close to 50% and are now being cut to 18%, but nothing is in writing,” Ajay Srivastava of GTRI told The Core.

Why?

Trump has claimed India agreed to bring tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products down to zero—an assertion New Delhi has not confirmed.

“Zero tariffs across the board are simply not credible,” Srivastava said. “India cannot open core agriculture or dairy even if it wants to. Industrial products are a different matter, but agriculture is a red line.”

Agriculture—especially dairy—is widely expected to remain outside the deal. India has long resisted US demands for greater access to its farm market, citing the livelihoods of millions of small farmers.

"Indian farmers are dependent on these for their livelihood; it is not a trade issue for India but a livelihood issue for the after population,” Srivastava added.

NASA, Blockchain Enter Cockpit For Your Safe Flight

By Vishwas Ved

What?

In December last year, a rather unnerving disclosure was made to the parliament: satellite navigation signals over Indian airspace had been compromised during civilian aircraft operations.

Reports of spoofing and interference with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) had also emerged from other Indian airports, including Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai.

GPS spoofing can have a serious impact on both military and civilian settings. In wars, if the GPS receivers of the opponent can be manipulated, it could control autonomous vehicles or drones that rely on GPS.

Experts agree that one way to stop the spoofing is to ensure that aviation data cannot be accessed by unauthorised people. Enter blockchain technology. 

How?

Through a drone flight test at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, researchers tested a blockchain-based system for protecting flight data. 

The system aims to keep air traffic management safe from disruption and protect data transferred between aircraft and ground stations from being intercepted or manipulated. 

GPS interference is not new, but the risks now are more widespread. 

It is easier for hackers to manipulate flight data because aviation systems were built on the assumption that satellite navigation signals would be consistently reliable and that data exchanged within air traffic systems cannot be corrupted. 

To what extent can NASA’s project help?

This series is brought to you in partnership with Algorand India.

Grok Safety Failure

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, built by xAI and integrated into X, continues to generate sexualised images of real people despite new safeguards, a Reuters investigation found.

Why It Matters: Reuters tested Grok with nearly 100 prompts using photos of fully clothed men and women, clearly stating that the subjects did not consent. In most cases, Grok still produced explicit or sexualised images. It did so even when prompts warned that the subjects were minors, survivors of abuse, or opposed to such manipulation. Rival AI tools from Google, OpenAI and Meta rejected similar prompts and flagged them as harmful.

Setup: In India, the issue erupted in late December 2025 and early January 2026 after Grok-generated sexualised replies and images went viral on X. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sought an explanation from X, citing concerns over obscene and non-consensual content and asking whether the platform complied with Indian IT rules.

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