(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)
U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced that he will impose an additional 25% tariffs on Indian goods as a penalty for the country’s oil purchases from Russia. This will take the effective tariffs on India to 50%, as Mr. Trump had already announced a 25% reciprocal tariff after talks to reach a trade deal hit road blocks. This makes India, along with Brazil, the highest-tariffed country (In the case of Brazil, Mr. Trump’s excuse for 50% tariffs was that Jair Bolsonaro, the former President, is being tried for a coup attempt after his defeat in the 2022 presidential elections). China, which imports more oil from Russia than India, pays 30% as of now. On August 11, Mr. Trump extended the deadline for higher tariffs on China to November 9, allowing time for further negotiations. Turkey, the biggest importer of Russian oil in the western hemisphere (and an American-Nato ally), pays 15%. The European Union, whose trade with Russia ($77.9 billion) was bigger than India’s trade with Russia ($68.7 billion) in 2024, pays 15%. Look at Asia. It’s 15% for both Japan and South Korea, and 19% for Indonesia.
India has so far not announced any retaliatory measures. A host of Indian sectors, particularly the garment and leather industries, will be affected by increased U.S. tariffs. The 25% reciprocal tariffs went into effect on August 7, and the ‘penalty tariffs’, per the White House, will kick on August 27. On August 6, the Ministry of External Affairs called Mr. Trump’s decision “extremely unfortunate”, “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”, promising to protect India’s national interest. While there is no official explanation on what went wrong in trade talks between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on August 7 that he would never compromise on the interests of India’s farmers, fishermen and dairy keepers, indicating that talks broke down over market access to the agricultural and dairy sectors.
This is a moment of crisis for India-U.S. ties. When Mr. Trump returned to the White House, many countries were worried about the effect it would have on their bilateral ties with the U.S. India was not among them. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr. Trump at the White House in February, a few weeks after Mr. Trump assumed office. Tensions, however, started rising after the May fighting between India and Pakistan that followed the Pahalgam terror attack. While Mr. Trump claimed that he averted a nuclear war between the two countries through his intervention, India’s position is that Pakistan asked for a ceasefire and India agreed to it. How the tariff crisis is going to affect India’s ties with the U.S., which many believe is one of the most consequential bilateral strategic partnerships of the 21st century? Will India cave in to U.S. pressure or an aggravated India would take more steps to bolster its cooperation with Russia and other countries in the Global South? [(Trump clearly prefers China over India for trade).] Read this explainer by Suhasini Haidar.
Netanyahu’s Final Plan
A flak jacket and a Palestinian flag are placed on the body of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif, during the funeral for him, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and another colleague, who were killed in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City August 11, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
| Photo Credit:
Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israel is coming under a lot of pressure to end its war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed at least 62,000 people, including more than 18,000 children. The world’s leading genocide scholars and human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. Many prominent Israelis, including a former Prime Minister, say Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. A group of former IDF and intelligence chiefs urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in a recent letter. France, a close Israeli ally, has said it will recognise the state of Palestine next month. Britain and Canada plan to do the same. Australia announced on August 11 it will also recognise Palestine in the coming weeks. More countries from the Western alliance system plan to follow suit. Israel is also seeing frequent protests, demanding the government end the war and get the hostages home.
Mr. Netanyahu’s response? A new plan to escalate the war and take control of Gaza City. Ever since the war began, almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people (the pre-war population) has been displaced. Hundreds of thousands of them are now living in a narrow coastal strip stretching from Gaza City in the north to Khan Younus in the south. It is this strip Israel is planning to attack now. The plan has triggered instant criticisms from across the world. But Mr. Netanyahu, who has the backing of Donald Trump, seems adamant about his plan. “The way Israel has been conducting the war and its decision to expand the offensive only reinforce the argument that its intention has always been to take over the enclave, even at the cost of expelling its over two million residents,” writes The Hindu in this editorial. “Israel is able to pursue this course only because of its military, financial and political support from the West, particularly the U.S.”
The Top Five
1. Decoding China, the lessons for a vulnerable India
China’s determined moves to target India are part of a meticulously calibrated plan to safeguard its core economic interests and its internal stability, writes Shashi Tharoor.
2. Muhammad Yunus: The professor who rose to power
The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who became the ‘Chief Adviser’ of Bangladesh’s post-Hasina interim administration, promises a peaceful transfer of power after next year’s ‘inclusive elections’, in which the Awami League, now officially banned, will not be able to participate, writes Kallol Bhattacherjee.
3. India’s presence amid a broken template of geopolitics
To get its economic and technological trajectory right, India needs to get its geopolitics right, writes T.S. Tirumurti.
4. Daniella Weiss: Settler godmother
As much of Gaza lies in ruins amid the ongoing war, the extremist Israeli settler leader finds an opportunity to send Jews back to the Palestinian enclave, writes Stanly Johny.
5. Shyam Sankar: Disruptor-in-chief
The Mumbai-born CTO of Palantir is leading the company’s rapid expansion in software and AI sectors through large government contracts, writes Smriti S.
Published – August 12, 2025 12:17 pm IST
