00:00For us in India is particularly important is the issue of terrorism, to the kind of terrorism that we have
00:07from a neighbor as part of a deliberate, conscious policy over many, many decades.
00:13Much of the world has had a more difficult relationship with the U.S.
00:18If something which matters so deeply to us, there isn't enough understanding or appreciation or empathy of that.
00:28One of my primary concerns is not fully appreciated by my partners.
00:35Well, you make the point, just to build it out a little bit, that it is in fact a self
00:42-interested policy to invest in and engage with developing countries, the global south,
00:50because we have seen the alternative not only in terms of terrorism and crime, but also in migration and infectious
01:00diseases, et cetera.
01:02We don't want to have fortresses in a wildly unstable world.
01:10There's a big difference, unfortunately, between rational self-interest and selfishness,
01:17and I think we may be paying a big price for policies and behaviors that fundamentally are selfish rather than
01:27wisely self-interested.
01:29All that said, can we shift gears a bit and talk more about some bilateral relations?
01:39So, I know that, I remember, last spring, you had high hopes for U.S.-India relations.
01:50Not all of, perhaps, what might have been expected a year and a half ago has really panned out.
01:58In fact, there have been problems, the defense ministers, as it was canceled, the trade agreement still hasn't been concluded.
02:08There's threats about tariffs being applied and so on.
02:14What would have to happen, or what would put the U.S.-India relationship on a better track?
02:28Well, I think if I stand back and look at the relationship, one, I note that much of the world
02:38has had a more difficult relationship with the U.S., okay?
02:42I mean, that may not be a consolation, but that's a reality.
02:46You're in good company.
02:47Yes, having said that, there are, you know, at least for many countries, the bigger countries, there are very specific
02:58issues.
02:59I mean, there are issues to that relationship.
03:02That combination of issues may not apply to others.
03:05In our case, one, of course, was the trade, the trade negotiation.
03:12Now, the trade negotiation, I mean, if you look at the stakes involved, the complexity of it involved,
03:19bear in mind, India is a society of small producers, small agriculture producers, small factories.
03:30So the, you know, apart from the per capita gap between India and the United States,
03:37the nature of production, nature of society is very different.
03:40So the trade negotiation required a certain amount of, I think, of patience and detailing to see it through.
03:53Now, we have reached, so the expectation that it could rapidly move forward, I think, was tested against a ground
04:06reality which was much more complex.
04:08So today, I think we have reached a situation where there is more or less an understanding on the trade
04:18agreement.
04:19But, as my trade minister has said on more than one occasion, the issue is now what has changed on
04:27the American side.
04:28So on the American side, reciprocal tariffs were struck down.
04:32So there is now a new basis for tariff imposition, which is 301.
04:36And the 301 process is still, in the works, it's still unfolding.
04:45So the issue for us is, you know, at what point do you close out an agreement which is very,
04:55very far advanced.
04:56But the period that it took to reach it, I mean, that did create bumps last year for the relationship.
05:07So presumably, if that agreement is closed out, that would be one point which would contribute to a better relationship.
05:15The second, I think, pertains to the sensitivities of each country.
05:23You know, what, for us in India, is particularly important is the issue of terrorism.
05:32That we feel that, you know, as a country, perhaps there are very few countries which have been subjected to
05:40the kind of terrorism that we have
05:42from a neighbour as part of a deliberate, conscious policy over many, many tickets.
05:48Now, if something which matters so deeply to us, there isn't enough understanding or appreciation or empathy of that,
05:59I think that creates a problem too, that, you know, if one of my primary concerns is not fully appreciated
06:12by my partner,
06:13then clearly there is an impact of that on the relationship.
06:18To some extent, I think it's also impacted, influenced at least, by what's happening within America.
06:24So, you know, for many years, mobility was seen as an, you know, as an economic gain.
06:32Now, today, the economics of mobility and the politics of mobility are at odds with each other,
06:39at least in some quarters.
06:41And, you know, that certainly in public perception is an issue.
06:46See, bear in mind one thing.
06:48You know, foreign policy or diplomacy today is not just something which is conducted by states or leaders or ministers
06:56or even by diplomats.
06:58In a social media era, there is a very big public opinion factor, which, particularly in democratic societies, makes itself
07:09felt.
07:09So, I think that's a reality we have to take into account.
07:14So, yes, we would certainly hope for and expect, you know, the relationship to move on an upward trajectory.
07:23But I have to be real about the issues that we confront.
07:27And to the extent we are able to move ahead on some of these issues, I think we'll have a
07:32better relationship.
