• Trump administration’s new rules cap student stays at four years, media persons limited to 240 days • Foreign students contributed over $50bn to US economy in 2023, data shows
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration moved on Thursday to impose stricter limits on how long foreign students and journalists can stay in the United States, the latest bid to tighten legal immigration in the country.
Under a proposed change, foreigners would not be allowed to stay for more than four years on student visas in the United States.
Foreign journalists would be limited to stays of just 240 days, although they could apply to extend by additional 240-day periods — except for Chinese journalists who would get just 90 days.
The United States, until now, has generally issued visas for the duration of a student’s educational programme or a journalist’s assignment, although no non-immigrant visas are valid for more than 10 years.
The proposed changes were published in the Federal Register, initiating a short period for public comment before they can go into effect.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security alleged that an unspecified number of foreigners were indefinitely extending their studies so they could remain in the country as “‘forever’ students”.
“For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the US virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amount of taxpayer dollars and disadvantaging US citizens,” the department said in a press statement on Wednesday.
The department did not explain how US citizens and taxpayers were hurt by international students who, according to Commerce Department statistics, contributed more than $50 billion to the US economy in 2023.
The United States welcomed more than 1.1 million international students in the 2023-24 academic year, more than any other country, providing a crucial source of revenue as foreigners generally pay full tuition.
A group representing leaders of US colleges and universities denounced the latest move as a needless bureaucratic hurdle that intrudes on academic decision-making and could further deter potential students who would otherwise contribute to research and job creation.
“This proposed rule sends a message to talented individuals from around the world that their contributions are not valued in the United States,” said Miriam Feldblum, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
“This is not only detrimental to international students — it also weakens the ability of US colleges and universities to attract top talent, diminishing our global competitiveness.”
Backlash
The announcement came as universities were starting their academic years with many reporting lower enrollments of international students after earlier actions by the Trump administration.
But Trump also heard rare criticism within his base when he mused on Monday that he would like to double the number of Chinese students in the United States to 600,000 as he hailed warm relations with counterpart Xi Jinping.
His remarks marked a sharp departure from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s earlier vow to “aggressively” rescind visas of Chinese students.
The State Department said last week it had overall revoked 6,000 student visas since Trump took office, in part due to Rubio’s targeting of campus activists who led demonstrations against Israel.
Trump has also suspended billions of dollars in federal research funds to universities, with his administration contending they have not acted against antisemitism, and Congress has sharply raised taxes on private universities’ endowments.
In a speech before he was elected, Vice President JD Vance said conservatives must attack universities, which he described as “the enemy”. Trump, at the end of his first term, had proposed curbing the duration of journalist visas, but his successor Joe Biden scrapped the idea.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to China at the weekend to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. In the United States, this revived India-China dialogue – it will be the first visit by Modi to China in seven years – is often misconstrued as a consequence of recent US-India tensions. But there is a far more complex dynamic at play.
India has grown closer to the United States over the past 15 years, but its foreign policy elite views this shift not as a move to anchor the country in the US orbit but rather as a means to diversify its options.
Indian diplomats certainly have a bitter impression of US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose higher tariffs on imports from India as a punishment for India’s procurement of Russian oil. Trump’s apparent coziness with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has also drawn India’s ire. This gives texture to the idea that Trump’s pressure on the Modi government is precipitating an India-China rapprochement that will ultimately produce a big win for Beijing – particularly given the wedge driven between India and China after border clashes in recent years.
In reality, India never fully sided with the United States against China. The latest tension with Washington only convinces those in Delhi who have long advocated for preserving its non-aligned foreign policy.
India sees its partnership with the United States as a pillar of its trade and security strategy. Relations have greatly improved since 2008, when the Bush administration signed a civil nuclear agreement that paved the way for broader cooperation. This includes the revived “Quad” grouping since 2017.
Moreover, Trump’s political brand appeals to Narendra Modi’s constituency. America First rhetoric has received warm support from BJP activists who see echoes of their own nationalist platform. Modi’s visit to Washington in February, soon after Trump’s second inauguration, was hailed as a success.
At the same time, India has never been the “natural ally” that American policymakers hoped it would be. In 2018, India and the first Trump administration concluded a major agreement. The Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was meant to increase US defence trade with India. But its promises are unfulfilled. Russia remains the primary arms supplier (36 per cent) for the Indian military, followed by France (33 per cent) and Israel (13 per cent).
Preventing overreliance on a single great power, such as the United States, is a way to protect the country’s strategic autonomy.
This breakdown of India’s defence partners shows the structural obstacles to the partnership. India has grown closer to the United States over the past 15 years, but its foreign policy elite views this shift not as a move to anchor the country in the US orbit but rather as a means to diversify its options. India’s old mantra of “non-alignment” has been replaced by the idea of “multi-alignment”.
Preventing overreliance on a single great power, such as the United States, is a way to protect the country’s strategic autonomy. This drives the Indian reluctance to break ties with Russia even after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It also explains the nuances evident between Indian and American views of the Indo-Pacific.
Modi made clear this in his 2018 keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue. He declared: “India does not see the Indo-Pacific region as a strategy or as a club of limited members … by no means do we consider it as directed against any country”. This was explicitly directed against the desire of American decision-makers to apply a tougher approach to China.
This is why India has sometimes favoured its partnership with a European middle power like France instead of the United States. Paris and Delhi share similarities in their search for strategic autonomy. French views of the Indo-Pacific are less targeted at China. Military cooperation with France’s industry does not induce the same level of dependence as with the American one.
India’s relations with China should be considered in that same light. The ongoing diplomatic consultations are driven by the desire to de-escalate the border dispute, which threatened to boil over in 2020-21. But lowering the tensions does not mean settling the dispute, which remains a distant goal. The more realistic objective is to push the issue into the background to protect trade relations between the two countries. In 2025, China remained India’s second-largest trading partner.
But the border issues aside, other security concerns put limitations on Indian engagement with China. Beijing’s enduring military cooperation with Islamabad is one problem. During the conflict in May this year, Pakistan reportedly used Chinese-made fighter jets, missiles, and drones against India, enabling Islamabad to shoot down Indian aircraft. China’s maritime presence throughout the Indian Ocean region also worries India. The establishment of a PLA military base in Djibouti, alongside Chinese participation in port infrastructure projects in the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia, exacerbates fears in India of encirclement.
So, the consequences of an India-China thaw should not be overstated. It would undoubtedly be a positive sign if diplomats of both countries can negotiate a way to de-escalate their military standoff in the Himalayas. But this is not a significant shift in the US-China-India triangle, which was always more volatile than strategists in Washington appeared to anticipate.
Merlyn Thomas, Benedict Garman & Sebastian VandermeerschBBC Verify
Videos show where Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least four times
Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least four times during its deadly attack in southern Gaza on Monday, an analysis of new video footage by BBC Verify has found.
The attack, which has attracted international condemnation and widespread anger, reportedly killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.
Initial reports from Gaza said that Israel had struck the hospital twice, with the first blast followed nine minutes later by another which hit first responders and journalists who arrived at the scene.
But new analysis suggests the hospital was struck four times in total. BBC Verify and expert analysis found that two staircases were hit almost simultaneously in the first wave, and while what was thought to be a single later attack was in fact two separate strikes hitting the same place within a fraction of a second.
Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza independently. BBC Verify identified the additional strikes by analysing dozens of videos provided by a freelancer on the ground and material filmed by eyewitnesses that circulated online.
In the first incident, an Israeli strike hit the exterior staircase on the hospital’s eastern side at 10:08 local time (07:08 GMT), killing journalist Hussam Al-Masri who was operating a live TV feed for Reuters.
BBC Verify has now identified another previously unreported blast at a northern wing staircase at practically the same time, which was overshadowed by the “double-tap” strike on the eastern staircase.
New footage shows smoke rising and damage at both staircases, while emergency workers said the hospital’s operating department was hit.
Other videos show an injured person being carried down the northern staircase and the hospital’s nursing director holding shredded and bloodied clothing which he said was being worn by a nurse while she was working in the operating department when it was hit.
N R Jenzen-Jones – the director of Armament Research Services, an arms and munitions intelligence company – said the footage “appears to show interior damage consistent with a relatively small munition, including an entry hole that suggests a munition with a relatively flat trajectory”.
A still shared with the BBC by a freelancer showing the damaged interior of the hospital by northern stairwell
Roughly nine minutes later, while dozens of first responders and journalists gathered on the eastern staircase, Israeli forces struck the facility again.
While the blast was documented by media at the time, frame-by-frame analysis of newly emerged footage clearly shows that two separate projectiles fired by Israeli forces hit the hospital milliseconds apart at an exposed stairwell where journalists and emergency workers had gathered.
Experts disagreed on the type of munition used in the third and fourth strikes.
Some munitions analysts with whom BBC Verify shared footage with identified the projectiles as Lahat missiles, a guided munition which can be fired from tanks, drones and helicopters. Several outlets in Israel have suggested that the munitions used against the hospital were fired by Israeli tanks stationed nearby.
The experts who spoke to BBC Verify said the blasts could not have been caused by a single tank, due to the quick succession in which the munitions hit the hospital.
“If these Lahats were fired from the ground, then at least two tanks would have been involved, as the interval between the two impacts is far too short,” Amael Kotlarski, an analyst with the Janes defence intelligence company, said. “No tank loader could have reloaded that fast.”
Meanwhile, Mr Jenzen-Jones said that the “impact of two projectiles at nearly the exact same moment suggests two tanks may have fired on the target simultaneously”.
Although he said it wasn’t possible to definitively identify the munitions used, the apparent physical characteristics and pattern of flight “suggest a ‘multi-purpose’ tank gun projectile, such as the Israeli M339 model”.
Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show IDF forces 2.5km north-east of Nasser Hospital and within firing range on the day of the attack. Other armoured vehicles can also be seen nearby.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had no additional comment on the newly identified blasts when approached by BBC Verify.
Israel’s narrative of the attack has evolved since Monday’s attack. It initially said it had carried out a strike in the area of the hospital, saying that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals ” and that an initial inquiry would be opened as soon as possible, but provided no justification for the attack.
In the hours that followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was responsible and that it “deeply regrets the tragic mishap”.
On Tuesday, the IDF said an initial inquiry found that troops had identified a camera positioned by Hamas in the area of the hospital “used to observe the activity of IDF troops”, without providing evidence.
The IDF has not yet acknowledged carrying out more than one strike on the hospital, amid allegations from some international legal experts that it may have violated international law.
Intentionally carrying out attacks on civilians which are “excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated” is prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
“A reasonable attacker must expect scores of civilian casualties since a hospital is full of protected persons,” Professor Janina Dill of Oxford University said.
Prof Dill added that the “mere presence of equipment that belongs to an adversary” does not mean a hospital or medical facility loses its protected status under the laws of war.
At least 247 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to the UN, making it the deadliest conflict for reporters ever documented.
Israel’s military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Almost 62,900 people have been killed in Gaza in the same period, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says Pakistan strongly raised the issue of Gaza during an international conference and successfully steered the adoption of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council.
Speaking at a press conference in the federal capital, Dar noted that Pakistan held the presidency of the UN in July this year, during which the Palestine issue was placed at the forefront. He stressed that Pakistan adopted a clear and consistent position in support of Palestine.
Dar explained that during the conference, he met the President of the UN General Assembly and also held talks with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Washington. He added that three important sessions were convened during discussions on the Security Council resolution, ensuring that the matter remained under international focus.
Diplomatic engagements
Dar further shared that significant meetings were held with foreign ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, culminating in the unanimous adoption of a resolution on Palestine under Pakistan’s presidency. He highlighted that this was the first time in many years that a Pakistan-sponsored resolution on Palestine was passed in the Security Council, now being cited at multiple global forums.
Dar also mentioned that the conference provided a platform to discuss broader Middle Eastern and Iranian affairs. Alongside, he engaged with the Pakistani community, business leaders and journalists abroad.
Regional discussions
The deputy PM noted that his diplomatic engagements extended to Kabul and Dhaka, where his visits were termed successful. In Kabul, Pakistan held a trilateral meeting with China and Afghanistan, including a bilateral session with the Afghan Foreign Minister. Concerns regarding the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were raised, with Pakistan and China jointly urging stability. Pakistan requested Chinese support for extending the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan, while discussions also included proposals for new railway links in Kabul.
He also recalled that Kashmiri leaders and Indus Waters Treaty experts were met during his stop in the United Kingdom, further strengthening Pakistan’s regional and diaspora ties.
National matters
Dar revealed that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is set to commence direct flights from Manchester by September this year, in a move aimed at facilitating overseas Pakistanis. In addition, a one-window passport service has been launched in the UK to streamline consular services.
Addressing domestic concerns, he clarified that the government has no authority over the judiciary, emphasising that his recent remarks had been taken out of context. Dar remarked that anyone misunderstanding his statements due to lack of English proficiency should make efforts to learn the language.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has approved a $825 million arms sale to Ukraine that will include extended-range missiles and related equipment to boost its defensive capabilities as U.S. efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia appear stalled.
The State Department announced Thursday that it had notified Congress of the sale of extended-range attack munition missiles and navigation systems for Ukraine. The sale will cover 3,350 ERAM missiles, 3,350 GPS units, along with components, spare parts and other accessories, as well as training and technical support.
It said Ukraine would use funding from NATO allies Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway in addition to U.S. foreign military financing to pay for the equipment.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the department said in a statement.
The U.S. in July announced two other proposed weapons sales to Ukraine. One worth $322 million to enhance its air defense capabilities and provide armored combat vehicles and another worth $330 million for air defense systems as well as the maintenance, repair and overhaul of self-propelled artillery vehicles.
Samira HussainSouth Asia Correspondent, BBC News, Delhi
BBC
Soyed Noor (centre) and some of the other refugees spoke to the BBC via a video call from Myanmar
Noorul Amin last spoke to his brother on 9 May. The call was brief, but the news was devastating.
He learned that his brother, Kairul, and four other relatives were among 40 Rohingya refugees allegedly deported by the Indian government to Myanmar, a country they had fled in fear years ago.
Myanmar is in the midst of a brutal civil war between the junta – which seized power in a 2021 coup – and ethnic militias and resistance forces.
The odds that Mr Amin will ever see his family again are vanishingly small.
“I could not process the torment that my parents and the others who were taken are facing,” Mr Amin, 24, told the BBC in Delhi.
Three months after they were removed from India’s capital, the BBC managed to contact the refugees in Myanmar. Most are staying with the Ba Htoo Army (BHA), a resistance group fighting the military in the south-west of the country.
“We don’t feel secure in Myanmar. This place is a complete war zone,” said Soyed Noor on a video call made from the phone of a BHA member. He spoke from a wooden shelter with six other refugees around him.
The BBC gathered testimonies from the refugees and accounts from relatives in Delhi and spoke to experts investigating the allegations to piece together what happened to them.
We have learnt that they were flown from Delhi to an island in the Bay of Bengal, put on a naval vessel and eventually forced into the Andaman Sea with life jackets. They then made their way to shore and are now facing an uncertain future in Myanmar, which the mostly-Muslim Rohingya community had fled in huge numbers in recent years to escape persecution.
“They bound our hands, covered our faces and brought us like captives [on to the boat]. Then they threw us in the sea,” John, one of the men in the group, told his brother by phone soon after reaching land.
“How can someone just throw human beings into the sea?” asked Mr Amin. “There is humanity alive in the world but I have not seen any humanity in the Indian government.”
Thomas Andrews, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says there is “significant evidence” proving these allegations, which he has presented to India’s head of mission in Geneva but has yet to receive a response.
The BBC has also contacted India’s Ministry of External Affairs several times but had not heard back by time of publication.
Campaigners have often flagged that the condition of Rohingya in India is precarious. India does not recognise the Rohingya as refugees but rather, as illegal immigrants under the country’s Foreigners Act.
India has a sizeable population of Rohingya refugees, although Bangladesh, where more than a million live, has the biggest number. Most fled Myanmar after a deadly army crackdown in 2017. Despite having lived there for generations, Rohingya are not recognised in Myanmar as citizens.
There are 23,800 Rohingya refugees in India registered with the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency. But Human Rights Watch estimates that the actual number is upwards of 40,000.
Noorul Amin
Noorul Amin’s brothers Kairul (extreme right) and Syedul (extreme left) and his parents (centre) were allegedly deported to Myanmar
On 6 May the 40 Rohingya refugees, who had UNHCR refugee cards and lived in different parts of Delhi, were taken to their local police stations under the guise of collecting biometric data. This is a yearly process mandated by the Indian government where Rohingya refugees are photographed and fingerprinted. After several hours they were taken to the Inderlok Detention Centre in the city, they told the BBC.
Mr Amin says his brother called him then and told him he was being taken to Myanmar, and asked him to get a lawyer and alert the UNHCR.
On 7 May, the refugees said they were taken to Hindon airport, just east of Delhi, where they boarded planes to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal.
“After getting off the plane, we saw that two buses had come to receive us,” said Mr Noor on the video call. He added he could see the words “Bhartiya Nausena” written on the side of the buses, the Hindi term referring to the Indian Navy.
Getty Images
Thousands of Rohingya live in squalid conditions in refugee camps in Delhi
“As soon as we got to the bus, they bound our hands with some plastic material and covered our face with a black muslin cloth,” he said.
Although the people on the buses did not identify themselves, they were dressed in military fatigues and were speaking Hindi.
After a short bus ride, the group boarded a naval vessel in the Bay of Bengal, which Mr Noor said they only realisedlateronce their hands had been untied and their faces uncovered.
They describe the vessel as a large warship with two floors, at least 150m (490 feet) in length.
“Many of [the people on the ship] were wearing T-shirts, black-coloured trousers and black army boots,” said Mohammad Sajjad, who was on the call with Mr Noor. “They weren’t all wearing the same thing – some in black, some in brown.”
Mr Noor says that the group was on the naval vessel for 14 hours. They were given meals regularly, traditional Indian fare of rice, lentils and paneer (cheese).
Some of the men say they were subjected to violence and humiliation on the ship.
“We were treated very badly,” said Mr Noor. “Some were beaten very badly. They were slapped multiple times.”
On the video call, Foyaz Ullah showed the scars on his right wrist, and described repeatedly being punched and slapped on his back and face, and poked with a bamboo rod.
“They asked me why I was in India illegally, why are you here?”
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Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar in waves of displacement over years
The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic community but of the 40 people forcibly returned in May, 15 are Christian.
Those detaining them on their journey from Delhi would even say, “‘why didn’t you become Hindu? Why did you convert from Islam to Christianity?’,” said Mr Noor. “They even made us pull down our pants to see if we are circumcised or not.”
Another refugee, Eman Hussain, said the military personnelaccused him of being involved in the Pahalgam massacre, referring to a 22 April attack where 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, were shot dead by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The Indian government has repeatedly accused Pakistani nationals of carrying out the attacks, a claim Islamabad denies. There’s been no suggestion that Rohingya had any link to the shootings.
The next day, on 8 May, at about 19:00 local time (12:30 GMT), the refugees were told to climb down a ladder on the side of the naval vessel. Below, they described seeing four smaller rescue boats, black and made of rubber.
The refugees were made to board two of the boats, 20 on each and accompanied by several of the people transporting them. The two other boats, which led the way, had more than a dozen personnel on them. For more than seven hours, they travelled with their hands tied.
“One of the boats with the military personnel reached the seashore and tied a long rope to a tree. That rope was then brought to the boats,” Mr Noor said.
He said they were given life jackets, their hands were untied – and they were told to jump into the water. “We held on to the rope and swam more than 100m to get to the shore,” he said, adding that they were told that they had reached Indonesia.
Then the people who’d taken them there left.
The BBC put these allegations to the Indian government and the Indian Navy, and have not received a response.
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A civil war has raged across Myanmar since the army seized power in a coup in 2021
In the early hours of 9 May, the group was found by local fishermen who told them they were in Myanmar. They let the refugees use their phones to call their relatives in India.
For more than three months, the BHA has been assisting the stranded refugees by providing food and shelter, in the Tanintharyi region of Myanmar. But their families in India are terrified about their fate in Myanmar.
The UN says the lives of Rohingya refugees “were put at extreme risk when Indian authorities forced [them] into the Andaman Sea”.
“I’ve been personally researching this very disturbing case,” said Mr Andrews. He admitted the amount of information he could share was limited, but that he had also “spoken with eyewitnesses and been able to corroborate those reports and establish that they are based in fact”.
On 17 May, Mr Amin and another family member of the refugees who were removed filed a petition urging India’s Supreme Court to bring them back to Delhi, immediately stop similar deportations and offer compensation to all 40 individuals.
“It opened up the country to the awfulness of the Rohingya deportation,” says Colin Gonsalves, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court who is arguing on behalf of the petitioners.
“That you can drop a person in the sea with a life jacket in a war zone was something people automatically chose to disbelieve,” Mr Gonsalves said.
In response to the petition, one Supreme Court judge on the two-judge bench called the allegations “fanciful ideas”. He also said the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to substantiate their claims.
Since then, the court has agreed to hear arguments on 29 September to decide whether the Rohingya can be treated as refugees or if they are illegal immigrants and therefore subject to deportations.
Noorul Amin, seen here holding his UNHCR card, says he lives in fear of being deported to Myanmar
Considering that tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees are living in India, it’s not clear why so much effort was devoted to deporting these 40 people.
“Nobody in India can understand why they did it, apart from this venom against Muslims,” said Mr Gonsalves.
The treatment of the refugees has sent a chill throughout the Rohingya community in India. In the past year, its members claim there has been an increase in deportations by the Indian authorities. There are no official figures to confirm this.
Some have gone into hiding. Others like Mr Amin no longer sleep at home. He has sent his wife and three children elsewhere.
“In my heart there is only this fear that the Indian government will take us also and throw us in the sea anytime. And now we are scared to even step out of our homes,” Mr Amin said.
“These are people who are in India not because they want to be,” said Mr Andrews from the UN.
“They’re there because of the horrific violence that is occurring in Myanmar. They literally have been running for their lives.”
NEW DELHI — Steep U.S. tariffs on a range of Indian products took effect Wednesday, threatening a serious blow to India’s overseas trade in its largest export market.
President Donald Trump had initially announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods. But earlier this month he signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff due to India’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the U.S. on its ally to 50%.
The Indian government estimates the tariffs will impact $48.2 billion worth of exports. Officials have warned the new duties could make shipments to the U.S. commercially unviable, triggering job losses and slower economic growth.
India–U.S. trade relations have expanded in recent years but remain vulnerable to disputes over market access and domestic political pressures. India is one of the fastest-growing major global economies and it may face a slowdown as a result.
Estimates by New Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative suggest labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, gems and jewelry, leather goods, food and automobiles will be hit hardest.
“The new tariff regime is a strategic shock that threatens to wipe out India’s long-established presence in the U.S., causing unemployment in export-driven hubs and weakening its role in the industrial value chain,” said Ajay Srivastava, the think tank’s founder and a former Indian trade official.
The U.S. has for now exempted some sectors such as pharmaceuticals and electronic goods from additional tariffs, bringing some relief for India as its exposure in these sectors is significant.
Puran Dawar, a leather footwear exporter in northern India’s Agra city, says the industry would take a substantial hit in the near term unless domestic demand strengthens and other overseas markets buy more Indian goods.
“This is an absolute shock,” said Dawar, whose business with the U.S. has grown in recent years. Dawar’s clients include the major fashion retailer Zara.
Dawar, who is also the regional chairman of the Council for Leather Exports — an export promotion body — said the U.S. should understand that the steep tariffs will hurt its own consumers.
Groups representing exporters warn that new import tariffs could hurt India’s small and medium enterprises that are heavily reliant on the American market.
“It’s a tricky situation. Some product lines will simply become unviable overnight,” said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations.
The tariffs come as the U.S. administration continues to push for greater access to India’s agriculture and dairy sectors.
India and the U.S. have held five rounds of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, but have yet to reach a deal. That’s largely because New Delhi has resisted opening these sectors to cheaper American imports, citing concerns that doing so would endanger the jobs of millions of Indians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed not to yield to the pressure.
“For me, the interests of farmers, small businesses and dairy are topmost. My government will ensure they aren’t impacted,” Modi said at a rally this week in his home state of Gujarat.
Modi said the world was witnessing a “politics of economic selfishness.”
A U.S. delegation canceled plans to visit New Delhi this week for a sixth round of trade talks.
The Indian government has begun working on reforms to boost local consumption and insulate the economy.
It has moved to change the goods and services tax, or consumption tax, to lower costs for insurance, cars and appliances ahead of the major Hindu festival of Diwali in October.
The government council will meet early next month to decide whether to cut taxes.
The Trade Ministry and Finance Ministry are discussing financial incentives that would include favorable bank loan rates for exporters.
The Trade Ministry is also weighing steps to expand exports to other regions, particularly Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Trade negotiations underway with the European Union could gain renewed urgency as India works to reduce its dependence on the U.S. market.
___
Associated Press video journalist Rishi Lekhi contributed to this report.
Iran’s former ambassador to Australia – now persona non grata – has denied allegations his government was behind two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia, describing the accusations as “baseless” as he left the country.
Ahmad Sadeghi faced media questioning at Sydney airport before boarding a flight out of Australia.
On Tuesday, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was ultimately behind two antisemitic arson attacks last year: one on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi and another on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. There were no injuries in either attack.
The federal government has expelled Sadeghi – the first such expulsion since the second world war – and will move to prescribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. There was no accusation current Iranian diplomats or embassy staff were involved.
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Sadeghi described Australia’s accusations as “baseless allegations” and reiterated that Iran has a large Jewish community, seeking to counter criticism that Iran has long sponsored antisemitic attacks overseas via proxy forces.
Sadeghi said that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) assessment that Iranian government officials were ultimately responsible for the arson attacks was the result of a “misunderstanding between Australia and Iran”.
He also proffered that the allegation had likely emerged from a “conspiracy against our friendly relations with Australia”.
Sadeghi insisted that, despite the tumult of his departure, he had enjoyed his posting in Canberra.
“I love Australian people,” he said.
Australia expels Iranian ambassador over evidence Iran directed antisemitic attacks – video
Asio said it had “credible intelligence” that the IRGC was ultimately behind the arson attacks – planning and funding the attacks through a series of intermediaries, including organised crime figures, but said it was “likely” Iran was behind more antisemitic attacks on Australian soil.
Following the expulsion of the ambassador, community leaders have said Australians of Iranian heritage faced verbal abuse and intimidation.
The local diaspora had been asking for the ambassador’s expulsion since 2022, following the regime’s crackdown on the women’s rights movement, the Australian Iranian Society of Victoria vice president, Kambiz Razmara, said.
He said there had been reports Australia’s Iranian community was being conflated with the actions of Iranian authorities.
“It is important for people to recognise that we, the Iranian diaspora, are opposed to what happens in Iran,” Razmara said.
“The Iranian diaspora, by and large, are here because they’re seeking freedom and social cohesion and freedom of expression and democracy, so anything that tarnishes that we are resolutely against.”
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The government had taken the right step after Iran’s “insidious, underhanded” work in destabilising Australian society, said David Andrews from the National Security College at the Australian National University.
On Australia’s relationship with Iran, Andrews said Canberra had in the past been able to conduct diplomacy on behalf of its friends and allies who did not have a mission in Tehran.
“[The expulsion] potentially puts that role at some risk,” he said.
Australia should expect some retaliation.
“The risk of people being used as political pawns, or people who have either dual citizenship or Australians passing through Iran, could be used as a point of leverage or sort of in response to this action,” Andrews said.
“There’s no one who will be rushing to try and repair those ties too actively.”
It’s estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Australians, or dual Australian-Iranian citizens, live in Iran.
The Australian government has a “do not travel” warning for Iran that advises Australian citizens they could be subject to arbitrary detention.
