India, U.S. to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030

India and the U.S. agreed to negotiate the first segment of a trade agreement by the autumn of 2025, with India looking to increase energy purchases from the U.S. to address U.S. President Donald Trump's concerns about the U.S.'s trade deficit with India, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr. Trump for bilateral discussions in Washington. The joint statement by the U.S. and India covered a range of topics: defence, trade, energy, technology, multilateral cooperation and people-to-people ties. The two sides agreed to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as part of 'Mission 500'. 

The Teesta dam and the long shadow of climate change

An expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change recommended a proposal to rebuild the Teesta-3 dam on the Teesta River in Sikkim. As global warming and particulate matter especially black carbon, also known as soot accelerate the melting of Himalayan glaciers, more runoff is pooling into new lakes or adding to the existing ones. A report by the Central Water Commission of last year found that the number of "glacial lakes and other water bodies" in the Himalayan region had become 10.8% more numerous between 2011 and 2024 and that their combined surface area had increased by 33.7% in the same period. The South Lhonak lake itself was formed in the early 1960s and grew to 167 hectares by 2023. 

Catching a break

Healthy winter harvest of vegetables reined in food inflation to a five-month low of 6% in January, driving down India's consumer price inflation to 4.3%, tantalisingly close to the 4% median target pursued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). For urban consumers, in fact, inflation eased to 3.9%, while rural consumers faced a much-moderated 4.6% up-tick in prices. This constitutes some relief for households, especially the urban middle class which has been awaiting relief from food inflation and has pulled back on other spending. 

Dealing with China's weaponisation of e-supply chains

In mid-January this year, news emerged of China preventing travel by its citizens working as engineers and technicians in Foxconn's facilities in India. It was also reported that those already in India were being recalled, and that the restrictions extended to curbs on exports of critical specialised manufacturing equipment, over which China has a monopoly. Over the last few years, the Indian government, in coordination with its State governments, has pulled out all stops to entrench Apple-Foxconn's investments in the southern part of the country. The efforts bore fruit in 2023, with the assembling of iPhone 15 models at Foxconn's facility in Sunguvarchatram, Tamil Nadu along with another line in Tata Electronics' plant in Hosur, Karnataka. In the fiscal year ending March 2024, Apple assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India, through contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron and Tata Electronics. In 2024, for the first time, iPhone 16 Pro models were assembled by Foxconn in India. State governments in south India have prioritised Apple-Foxconn in their pursuit of investments. 

India may review Singapore's call for raising flight quota

India is now open to reviewing Singapore's request for a liberal-ised air service agreement, potentially allowing more flights and expanded access to Indian airports a shift from its stance in recent years. A bilateral air service agreement (ASA) is a treaty between two countries that allows airlines to provide air connectivity. These specify the number of flights or seats allocated to the two countries, apart from the airports that can be served.