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Trump has pushed India to the wall. He may be doing it a favour

History shows that the country takes its best decisions when it has no other choice.

Members of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions carry a banner during a protest against the United States and Trump administration's tariff policies in Bangalore, India, on Sept 1.

PHOTO: EPA

Ravi Velloor

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US President Donald Trump’s whimsical approach to tackling what he sees as Indian recalcitrance to bow to his diktat and curb Russian oil purchases – which would help pressure Moscow on Ukraine – has seen him

slap a combined 50 per cent

tariff

on Indian goods imported into the US.

The latest reports suggest that India and the US

are about to sit down to negotiate

the final stretch of a bilateral trade agreement that should be announced by the first week of October. Emollient exchanges between Mr Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last weekend notwithstanding, it is clear that New Delhi will need to make significant concessions in order to protect an estimated US$60 billion (S$77 billion) of the US$87 billion it exports to the US.

Trump has pushed India to the wall. He may be doing it a favour

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