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US tariffs of 50 percent took effect Wednesday on many Indian products, doubling an existing duty as President Donald Trump sought to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil.India has criticized the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” with its export body calling on Wednesday for government intervention to assuage fears of heavy job cuts.Trump has raised pressure on India over the energy transactions, a key source of revenue for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, as part of a campaign to end the conflict.The latest salvo strains US-India ties, giving New Delhi fresh incentive to improve relations with Beijing.But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Wednesday that Trump had good ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”I think at the end of the day, we will come together,” he said.While Trump has slapped fresh duties on allies and competitors alike since returning to the presidency in January, this 50-percent level is among the highest that US trading partners face.Crucially, however, exemptions remain for sectors that could be hit with separate levies — such as pharmaceuticals, computer chips and smartphones.Industries that have already been singled out, such as steel, aluminum and automobiles, are similarly spared these countrywide duties.The United States was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3 billion.But analysts have cautioned that a 50-percent duty is akin to a trade embargo and is likely to harm smaller firms.Exporters of textiles, seafood and jewelry were already reporting cancelled US orders and losses to rivals such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, raising fears of heavy job cuts.Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, called for “liquidity support from the government.””We want to ensure that even if business stops, we are able to keep workers on the payroll”, he told AFP, saying they were “still optimistic” for  trade negotiations.- ‘Eroded trust’ -The world’s fifth-largest economy is looking to cushion the blow, with Modi promising to lower the tax burden on citizens during an annual speech to mark India’s independence.Modi earlier vowed self-reliance, pledging to defend his country’s interests.The foreign ministry previously said India had begun importing oil from Russia as traditional supplies were diverted to Europe over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.It noted that Washington actively encouraged such imports at the time to strengthen stability in the global energy market.Russia accounted for nearly 36 percent of India’s total crude oil imports in 2024. Buying Russian oil saved India billions of dollars on import costs, keeping domestic fuel prices relatively stable.But the Trump administration held firm on its tariff plans in the lead-up to Wednesday’s deadline.Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters last week that “India doesn’t appear to want to recognize its role in the bloodshed.””It’s cozying up to Xi Jinping,” Navarro added, referring to the Chinese president.Wendy Cutler, from the Asia Society Policy Institute, said India had moved from being “a promising candidate for an early trade deal to a nation facing among the highest tariffs.”Cutler, a former US trade official, told AFP that the “high tariffs have quickly eroded trust between the two countries, which could take years to rebuild.”Trump has used tariffs as a tool for addressing everything from what Washington deems as unfair trade practices to trade imbalances.US trade deficits were a key justification behind his higher duties on dozens of economies taking effect in early August — hitting partners from the European Union to Indonesia.But the 79-year-old Republican has also taken aim at specific countries such as Brazil over the trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of plotting a coup.US tariffs on many Brazilian goods surged to 50 percent this month, but with broad exemptions.

Floods and landslides triggered by record-breaking heavy rain have killed more than 30 people in India’s Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.A landslide on the route to the famous Hindu shrine Vaishno Devi killed 33 people, local disaster management official Mohammad Irshad told AFP.India’s Meteorological Department said the torrential rain had smashed records in two locations. Jammu and Udhampur recorded their highest 24-hour rainfall on Wednesday, with 296 mm (11.6 inches) in Jammu, nine percent higher than the 1973 record, and 629.4 mm (24.8 inches) in Udhampur — a staggering 84 percent surge over the 2019 mark.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the loss of lives was “saddening”.The intense monsoon rainstorm in the Indian-administered territory has caused widespread chaos, with raging water smashing into bridges and swamping homes.Floods and landslides are common during the June-September monsoon season, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency, severity and impact.Climate experts from the Himalayan-focused International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warn that a spate of disasters illustrates the dangers when extreme rain combines with mountain slopes weakened by melting permafrost, as well as building developments in flood-prone valleys.ICIMOD warned this month that the wider Hindu Kush Himalaya region is suffering “accelerated glacier melt, shifting weather patterns, and an increasing frequency of disaster events”, including floods.The local administration said on Wednesday thousands of people were forced to flee in the Jammu region.Schools have been shut, with the region’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saying officials were struggling with “almost non-existent communication”.The main Jhelum river in the Kashmir valley has also risen above the danger mark and authorities sounded flood alerts, including for the key city of Srinagar.Powerful torrents driven by intense rain smashed into Chisoti village in Indian-administered Kashmir on August 14, killing at least 65 people and leaving another 33 missing.Floods on August 5 overwhelmed the Himalayan town of Dharali in India’s Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has not been confirmed.

Nepal’s Supreme Court has ruled that naked Hindu holy men need not wear clothes to attend a revered temple, declaring that their age-old tradition of nudity is not obscenity.The ash-smeared and dreadlocked ascetics known as Naga sadhus — devotees of the Hindu deity Shiva who renounce their family and worldly possessions, including clothing — said on Wednesday that they welcomed the top court decision.”I want to thank the Supreme Court,” said 45-year-old Eakadasa Baba, who had walked from neighbouring India on a pilgrimage to the Pashupatinath temple, among the most sacred sites for Shiva followers.”It does not mean we roam around the city or villages without clothes. We remain unclothed only in our own place, within the temple,” the Naga sadhu said.The ruling dismissed a petition seeking to bar them from the temple in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu that argued their public nudity disturbed other devotees.”Nudity and obscenity are not the same,” the court said in its ruling, which was made last year but only published this week, according to court spokesperson Nirajan Pandey.”Nudity, when practised as part of religious or cultural tradition, cannot automatically be considered offensive.”Each year, hundreds of Naga sadhus travel to Kathmandu for the Maha Shivaratri festival celebrations at the Pashupatinath temple. Some stay on and live on the temple premises.The court said that banning their entry would violate both national and international protections of religious freedom.Despite the petition, Rajendra Giri, 51 year-old Nepali Naga sadhu, said the tradition does not “disturb” anyone.The holy men typically travel from India for the festival, which falls in February or March. The temple provides them food and a travel allowance.”They have designated spaces and follow strict disciplines,” cultural historian Govinda Tandon said.”As the court rightly noted, their nudity is not obscenity, it’s a core part of the Naga tradition.”

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 30 people in India’s Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, officials and local media said Wednesday.An intense monsoon rainstorm in the Indian-administered territory has caused widespread chaos with raging water smashing into bridges and swamping homes.A landslide on the route to the famous Hindu shrine Vaishno Devi killed at least 30 people, a local disaster official told AFP.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the loss of lives was “saddening”.Floods and landslides are common during the June-September monsoon season, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency, severity and impact.Climate experts from the Himalayan focused International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warn that a spate of disasters illustrates the dangers when extreme rain combines with mountain slopes weakened by melting permafrost — and building development in flood-prone valleys.ICIMOD warned in a statement this month that the wider Hindu Kush Himalaya region is suffering “accelerated glacier melt, shifting weather patterns, and an increasing frequency of disaster events” including floods.The local administration said Wednesday that thousands had been forced to flee in the Jammu region.Schools have been shut in the area, with the region’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah saying officials were struggling with “almost nonexistent communication”.The main Jhelum river in the Kashmir valley has also risen above the danger mark with authorities sounding flood alerts, including for the key city of Srinagar.On August 14, powerful torrents driven by intense rain smashed into Chisoti village in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 65 people with another 33 missing.Floods on August 5 overwhelmed the Himalayan town of Dharali in India’s Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has not been confirmed.

India could be banned from world football for the second time in three years after FIFA and the Asian governing body demanded it implement a new constitution by October 30 or risk suspension.World governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sent a joint letter to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey expressing “profound concern” at the continued failure to finalise and adopt the constitution.”Failure to meet this schedule will leave us with no alternative but to refer the matter to the relevant FIFA decision-making body for consideration and decision,” said the letter, seen by AFP.”AIFF must regard this communication as binding and requiring immediate compliance in order to safeguard its rights as a member of FIFA and the AFC,” it added.The AIFF constitution has been in India’s Supreme Court awaiting a decision since 2017.A suspension would mean India national teams and clubs being barred from all international competitions.FIFA previously suspended India in August 2022 for third-party influence after the Supreme Court appointed a committee of administrators to run the AIFF.The ban was lifted a few days later, paving the way for the AIFF to elect Chaubey.India’s top-flight club football is currently in disarray. The Indian Super League (ISL) could fold over a dispute between the AIFF and its commercial partner.This season’s ISL kickoff has been delayed with thousands of players and staff in danger of losing their jobs.A rights agreement between the AIFF and the company that runs the ISL, Football Sports Development Limited, ends on December 8 and is yet to be renewedThe AIFF has been unable to come up with a revival plan for the ISL, which is usually played between September and April.Players union FIFPRO Asia/Oceania raised the issue with FIFA last week.

Floodwaters gushing through mountain villages, cities rendered swamps, mourners gathered at fresh graves — as Pakistan’s monsoon season once again delivers scenes of calamity, it also lays bare woeful preparedness.Without better regulation of construction and sewer maintenance, the annual downpours that have left hundreds dead in recent months will continue to kill, experts say.Even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared to agree as he toured flood-stricken northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last week, where landslides killed more than 450 people. “Natural disasters are acts of God, but we cannot ignore the human blunders,” he said.”If we keep letting influence-peddlingand corruption control building permits, neither the people nor the governments will be forgiven.” Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with limited resources for adaptation.In the devastated mountain villages the prime minister visited, and beyond, residential areas are erected near riverbeds, blocking “natural storm drains,” former climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.Entrepreneur Fazal Khan now recognises the “mistake” of building too close to the river.His home in the Swat Valley was destroyed first by 2010 floods and then again in the 2022 inundation that affected nearly four million Pakistanis.”On August 15, once again, the floodwater surged through the channel and entered our home,” the 43-year-old father said.– Man-made mistakes –Since it began in June, this year’s monsoon has killed around 800 people and damaged more than 7,000 homes, with further downpours expected through September. While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.By the middle of this month, Pakistan had already received 50 percent more rainfall than this time last year, according to disaster authorities, while in neighbouring India, flash floods and sudden storms have killed hundreds.Extractive practices have also compounded the climate-related disasters, with cash-strapped but mineral-rich Pakistan eager to meet growing American and Chinese demand.Rehman, the former minister, said mining and logging have altered the natural watershed.”When a flood comes down, especially in mountainous terrain, a dense forest is very often able to check the speed, scale and ferocity of the water, but Pakistan now only has five percent forest coverage, the lowest in South Asia,” she said.Urban infrastructure, too, has faltered. Days after villages were swept away in the north, a spell of rain in the south brought Pakistan’s financial capital, Karachi, to a standstill.The coastal megacity — home to more than 20 million people — recorded 10 deaths last week, with victims electrocuted or crushed by collapsing roofs.A Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) report said brown water inundating streets is not only the result of rain but “clogged drains, inadequate solid waste disposal, poor infrastructure, encroachments, elitist housing societies… and so on.”Published in the wake of 2020’s deadly floods, the report still rings true today.- ‘Negligence’ -According to the commission, the problems are “inherently political” as various parties use building permits to fuel their patronage networks — often disregarding the risks of constructing on top of drainage canals.In some areas, “the drain has become so narrow that when high tide occurs and it rains simultaneously, instead of the water flowing into the sea, it flows back into the river,” urban planning expert Arif Hasan said in an interview after the 2022 floods.In the sprawling, rapidly swelling city, the various authorities, both civil and military, have failed to coordinate urban planning, according to the rights commission. As a result, what infrastructure does get built can solve one problem while creating others.”Karachi isn’t being destroyed by rain, but by years of negligence,” said Taha Ahmed Khan, an opposition lawmaker in the Sindh provincial assembly.”Illegal construction and encroachments on stormwater drains, along with substandard roads… have only worsened the crisis,” he added.Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab says he has been asking Islamabad every year for help financing the revamping of drainage canals, to no avail.”It’s easy to suggest that drainage capacity should be enhanced, but the cost is so high that it might require spending almost the entire national budget,” he told AFP.Yet during June’s budget vote, the opposition accused the city of having spent only 10 percent of funds earmarked for a massive development project.The five-year plan, designed with international donors, was supposed to end the city’s monsoon suffering by the end of 2024.But nearly a year later, there is no respite.

Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was granted bail on Tuesday, four days after his arrest on the charge of misusing state funds for an overseas visit.The ex-leader, 76, was arrested on Friday accused of spending $55,000 in government funds on a 2023 stopover in Britain while returning from attending the G77 summit in Havana and the UN General Assembly in New York.The Colombo Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura ordered Wickremesinghe’s release on a five-million-rupee ($16,600) bond after a lengthy hearing held under tight security, including elite troops.A few hundred protesters had gathered outside the court earlier in the day in support of Wickremesinghe, and were met by riot police who held back the crowd.After being remanded in custody on Friday, the former leader was rushed to a prison hospital and then the country’s main state-run hospital suffering from dehydration, but hospital officials said his condition was stable. Wickremesinghe joined Tuesday’s bail hearing via video link from his bed at the National Hospital of Colombo, where he is being treated under armed guard.The judge ordered his next hearing for October 29.His arrest came as part of his successor Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s campaign against endemic corruption on the island nation, which is still emerging from its worst economic crisis in 2022.Three former Sri Lankan presidents expressed solidarity with Wickremesinghe on Sunday and condemned his incarceration as a “calculated assault” on democracy.Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) said it believed he was being prosecuted out of fear that he could mount a political comeback.He lost the presidential election in September to Dissanayake, but has remained politically active despite holding no elected office.He has maintained that his wife’s travel expenses in Britain were met by her personally and that no state funds were used for the visit.Wickremesinghe became president in July 2022 after then-leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa stepped down following months of street protests fuelled by the economic crisis.

The World Food Programme warned Tuesday that the aid Israel is allowing to enter Gaza remains a “drop in the ocean”, days after famine was formally declared in the war-torn Palestinian territory.The United Nations declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming the “systematic obstruction” of aid by Israel during its nearly two-year war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.Carl Skau, WFP’s chief operating officer, said that over the past two weeks, there has been a “slight uptick” in aid entering, averaging around 100 trucks per day.”That’s still a drop in the ocean when we’re talking about assisting some 2.1 million people,” Skau told AFP during a visit to New Delhi.”We need a completely different level of assistance to be able to turn this trajectory of famine around.”The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said famine was affecting 500,000 people in Gaza.It defines famine as when 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, more than 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished, and there is an excess mortality threshold of at least two in 10,000 people a day.Skau painted a grim picture of Gaza.”The levels of desperation are so high that people keep grabbing the food off our trucks,” the former Swedish diplomat said.”And when we’re not able to do proper orderly distributions, we’re not sure that we’re reaching the most vulnerable — the women and the children furthest out in the camps,” he said. “And they’re the ones we really need to reach now, if we want to avoid a full-scale catastrophe.”- ‘Starvation phase’ -But Skau also warned that Gaza was only one of many global crises, with multiple famine zones emerging simultaneously as donor funding collapses.Some 320 million people globally are now acutely food insecure — nearly triple the figure from five years ago. At the same time, WFP funding has dropped by 40 percent compared with last year.”Right now, we’re seeing a number of crises that, at any other time in history, would have gotten the headlines and been the top issue discussed,” he said.That includes Sudan, where 25 million people are “acutely food insecure”, including 10 million in what Skau called “the starvation phase”.”It’s the largest hunger and humanitarian crisis that we probably have seen in decades — since the end of the 1980s with the Ethiopia famine,” he said.”We have 10 spots in Sudan where famine has been confirmed. It’s a disaster of unimaginable magnitude.”He detailed how a UN aid convoy in June tried to break the siege by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan’s city of El-Fasher in Darfur, only for the truck convoy to be hit by a deadly drone attack.Neighbouring South Sudan is also struggling, he said, suggesting “there might well be a third confirmation of a famine”.”That will be unprecedented”, he said, citing “extremely expensive” operations in the young nation’s Upper Nile state, where, with few roads, aid must be delivered by helicopters or airdrops.”This is maybe the number one crisis where you have on one hand staggering needs and, frankly, no resources available”, he said.At the same time, traditional donors have cut aid.US President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid after taking office, dealing a heavy blow to humanitarian operations worldwide.”We are in a funding crunch, and the challenge here is that the needs keep going up”, Skau said.While conflict is the “main driver” of rising hunger levels, other causes include “extreme weather events due to climate change” and the economic shock of trade wars.”Our worry is that we are now cutting from the hungry to give to the starving,” he said.Skau said the organisation was actively seeking new donors.”We’re engaging countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, and others, beyond the more traditional donors, to see how they can also assist”.

The Election Commission of India, long regarded as the impartial guardian of the world’s largest democracy, is facing unprecedented scrutiny over its credibility and independence.Opposition leaders and critics have alleged that large-scale rigging of elections is impacting the overall results of the vote.The ECI has denied all charges, the first against it in India’s history.Heading the charge is the leader of the opposition in New Delhi’s parliament, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, who previously alleged that India’s electronic voting machines are flawed.Now Gandhi has accused the ECI of refusing to share digital voter records, detailing what he said was a list of errors after his supporters spent weeks combing through vast piles of registration lists by hand.- What are the allegations? -Gandhi, 55, said his party lost dozens of seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections because of vote rigging.The largest democratic exercise in human history across the country of 1.4 billion people was staggered over six weeks.Gandhi claimed that the ECI manipulated voter rolls to favour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Modi, 74, won a historic third term last year but fell short of a majority.The alleged rigging involved a string of tactics, according to Gandhi.He said some people voted multiple times, citing bulk registrations from one dwelling and seemingly bogus addresses.In a presentation to reporters on August 7, Gandhi pointed to a parliamentary constituency his party narrowly lost as an “open and shut” example of the alleged irregularities.Over 100,000 “fake” votes were cast in the constituency, he said, courtesy of duplicate voters.His Congress party lost the seat by just over 30,000 votes.”Our demand from the ECI is clear — be transparent and release digital voter rolls so that people and parties can audit them,” Gandhi said. – What has the Election Commission said? -The ECI has called Gandhi’s accusation “false and misleading”.India’s chief election commissioner said they would “never” back down from their constitutional duties. “Politics is being done using the Election Commission… as a tool to target India’s voters,” Gyanesh Kumar told a news conference this month.”The Election Commission wants to make it clear that it fearlessly stands rock-solid with all voters… without any discrimination and will continue to do so.”Kumar also said those alleging fraud either need to furnish proof under oath or apologise.”An affidavit must be submitted or an apology to the nation must be made — there is no third option.” – Why now? -Gandhi launched a month-long “voter rights” rally in the key battleground state of Bihar on August 17, receiving enthusiastic public response.The allegations come ahead of elections in Bihar in October or November.The opposition alleged the ECI had embarked on a “mass disenfranchisement” exercise, after it gave voters in the state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents that few possess in a registration revamp.India’s top court stepped in last week, allowing a biometric ID most residents possess to be accepted in Bihar’s voter registration.The “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) of voter registration is set to be replicated across India.Gandhi called the exercise in Bihar the “final conspiracy”.Activists have reported finding numerous living voters declared dead by election officials, and entire families struck off draft lists.Voter verification in Bihar is scheduled to be completed by September 25, with the final list released five days later.”They aim to steal the elections by adding new voters under the guise of SIR and removing existing voters,” Gandhi said.The ECI has defended the registration revision, saying it is in part to avoid “foreign illegal immigrants” from voting.Members of Modi’s BJP have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India’s electoral rolls.Criticism mounted after the ECI replaced Bihar’s machine-readable voter records with scanned image files that do not allow text searches.Critics said the changes made detecting anomalies more time-consuming and prone to error.

Indian exports to the United States will face some of the highest tariffs in the world this week, barring a last-minute reversal from President Donald Trump. Trump has tied issues of war and peace to trade, threatening to slap 50 percent duties on New Delhi in retaliation for its continued purchases of Russian oil — which Washington argues help finance Moscow’s war in Ukraine.The tariff offensive has rattled US-India ties, given New Delhi a new incentive to repair relations with Beijing, and carries major consequences for the world’s fifth-largest economy.Trump issued a three-week deadline on August 6, which is expected to take effect on Wednesday morning in India.- How bad will it be? -The United States was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3 billion.Analysts at Nomura warn that 50 percent duties would be “akin to a trade embargo”, devastating smaller firms with “lower value add and thinner margins”. Elara Securities’s Garima Kapoor said no Indian product can “stand any competitive edge” under such heavy import taxes.Economists estimate tariffs could shave 70 to 100 basis points off India’s GDP growth this fiscal year, dragging growth below six percent, the weakest pace since the pandemic.Exporters in textiles, seafood and jewellery are already reporting cancelled US orders and losses to rivals such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, raising fears of heavy job cuts.A small reprieve: pharmaceuticals and electronics, including iPhones assembled in India, are exempt for now.S&P estimates exports equivalent to 1.2 percent of India’s GDP will be hit, but says it will be a “one-off” shock that “will not derail” the country’s long-term growth prospects.- Will either side blink? -There’s no sign yet. In fact, since the US and Russian presidents met in Alaska, Washington has ramped up criticism of India.”India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in the Financial Times earlier this month, slamming the country’s refiners for “profiteering”.Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar fired back, arguing India’s purchases helped stabilise global oil markets — and were done with Washington’s tacit approval in 2022.He argued that both the United States and Europe buy refined oil and associated products from India.”If you have a problem buying oil from India, oil or refined products, don’t buy it”, he said, speaking in New Delhi. “Nobody forced you to buy it — but Europe buys, America buys.”Jaishankar said that, until Trump’s ultimatum, there had been “no conversations” asking them to stop buying Moscow’s oil.Trade trackers at Kpler say India’s stance will become clearer only in September, as most August shipments were contracted before Trump’s threats.But experts say India is in a tricky situation.India needs “considerable ingenuity and flexibility” to escape “what appears to be a no-win situation”, said Nandan Unnikrishnan of New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.Washington, Unnikrishnan argued, is telling India: “We think that you are the weakest link in the Russia-Ukraine geopolitics chain”.- What can India do? -New Delhi has sought to bolster its economy while deepening ties with both BRICS partners and regional rivals.Jaishankar flew to ally Moscow, producing pledges to ease barriers to bilateral trade, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing his first visit to China in seven years to repair long-frosty relations.Domestically, Indian media reports that the government is working on a $2.8 billion package for exporters, a six-year programme aimed at easing liquidity concerns.Modi has also proposed tax cuts on everyday goods to spur spending and cushion the economy.- What is blocking a trade deal? -Talks have stumbled over agriculture and dairy.Trump wants greater US access, while Modi is determined to shield India’s farmers, a huge voter bloc.Indian media reports suggested that US negotiators cancelled a planned late-August trip to India. That sparked speculation that discussions had broken down.Jaishankar, however, says talks are continuing, adding drily: “Negotiations are still going on in the sense that nobody said the negotiations are off,” he said. “And people, people do talk to each other.”