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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the authors and Parikh Worldwide Media does not officially endorse, and is not responsible or liable for them. Diplomacy News India Times (October 18, 2025 - October 24, 2025) October 24, 2025 4 Opinion How India Tariffs Hurt America’s China Strategy E ven if President Donald Trump was right that foreign countries absorb the cost of his tariffs, that wouldn’t mean they are necessarily in America’s interest. Suppressing economic growth in strategi- cally important regions can easily backfire on the United States. Consider South Asia. The region is mostly populated by India and Bangladesh, along with smaller countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka. TheWorld Bank projected last week that the region’s GDP growth would fall to 5.8 percent in 2026 from 6.6 percent in 2025. The “forecast has been downgraded,” the report notes, in part because “India continues to face higher-than-expected tariffs on goods exports to the United States.” Trump doubled the U.S. tariff rate on India to 50 per- cent in August. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic adviser estimates that U.S. tariffs will take about half a point off India’s growth rate. Why should an “America First” administration care about that? Because China is by far the largest economy in Asia and the most threatening regime to the United States. Economic growth correlates with diplomatic and military strength. If South Asia is relatively weaker, then China has more freedom to throw its weight along its eastern coast. Conflict in that region - which includes treaty allies Japan and the Philippines - risks sparking a direct confrontation with China. It is in America’s national interest, then, for South Asia, and especially India, to grow at a rapid clip. That would create a counterweight in Asia to China’s massive economic and military expansion. Trump’s barrage of tariffs on India in August was supposedly a response to its importation of Russian oil, even though China is a bigger customer of the same product. But Trump is determined to negotiate a grand trade bargain with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, so he didn’t impose secondary sanctions on their purchases of Russian crude. Trump wants U.S. trade policy to be more self-inter- ested, but it doesn’t serve America’s strategic interests to strengthen China’s position relative to its neighbors. At some level, the administration surely knows this. Indeed, its continued commitment to strengthening the Quad - comprising the United States, Japan, India and Australia - shows that it understands that regional power balances matter. Reuters reported this week that new trade talks are in the works. Negotiators can address differences with New Delhi without losing sight of its crucial role balanc- ing Beijing. -Editorial Board/ TheWashington Post India And Canada Agree On New Roadmap For Relations I ndia and Canada agreed on Monday, October 13, 2025, on a new roadmap for their relations after talks between their foreign ministers in New Delhi, as both countries seek to mend ties strained over the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist. The two countries, both of which are looking to diversify trade away from the United States due to tariff announcements, agreed to collaborate on areas like criti- cal minerals, trade and agricultural value chains, a joint statement said. “Reviving this partnership will not only create op- portunities for enhanced economic cooperation but also help mitigate vulnerabilities arising from shifting global alliances,” it said. ALMOST TWO YEARS OF STRAINED RELATIONS The statement came after Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Mon- day, October 13.. “Both of our governments agree on the importance of elevating the relationship,” Anand said in her opening remarks at the meeting with Jaishankar. Relations between New Delhi and Ottawa were strained for almost two years after then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi in 2023 of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India denied Canada’s allegations of involvement in the murder and in turn accused Ottawa of fostering sepa- ratist groups on its soil. In June this year, Trudeau’s successor Mark Carney hosted Modi at the G7 summit in Kananaskis in the Cana- dian province of Alberta. India is Canada’s top source of temporary foreign workers and international students, as well as an impor- tant market for pulses such as lentils and yellow peas. Canada is home to an influential Sikh community. Indian leaders say there are some fringe groups there that are still sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan to be carved out of Hindu-majority India. -Reuters PHOTO:X @narendramodi PHOTO:X @drsjaishankar PM Narendra Modi welcoming Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand October 13, 2025. They discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in trade, technology, energy, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges for mutual growth and prosperity. India’s MEA S. Jaishankar met and had “constructive discussions” to restore and reinvigorate the mechanisms necessary to advance partnership.