Jeffrey Sachs is an eminent American economist, and like several other erudite Americans, is a trenchant critic of US President Donald Trump. Speaking to an audience in Kolkata, he said: “Trump does not represent America. He is not good for America. He is not good for India.”

Continuing in the same vein, he also said: “I know Trump had best relations with PM Modi and they had occasions together. Many in India felt this is the best relationship… but frankly, don’t ally with the United States; it is not India’s best course right now.”

On Christmas Eve, commerce minister Piyush Goyal was quoted as saying India was close to an “initial trade framework deal”, a cautious framing, remarkably thin on substance and not altering the reality that the punitive 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to the US are still in force.

It’s especially awkward for India that the Trump administration’s cold vibes, its apparent sidelining of India in America’s new global calculus should have come after all the hugging and kissing and grandstanding about the special relationship with ‘a dear friend’. Modi’s diplomacy was personality focused in the extreme, and with the object of his fascination turning his back on him, it’s looking like the all the diplomatic capital India had earned since the 1990s has suddenly evaporated.

The freeze has affected outwardly mobile Indians as well. From the standpoint of those chasing dreams of a career and life in America, the clampdown on H-1B visas is nothing short of distressing. The US embassy in Delhi has announced delays even in renewing visas. There is greater scrutiny of H-1B and H4 visa........

© National Herald