COVER STORY
India–US ties face their toughest test yet as Trump’s tariffs strain decades of progress in bilateral relations.
Outlook Magazine - Where Do We Go Now? - 21 September 2025 Issue
While the US still remains the world's only Superpower, the breakdown of the liberal system that was carefully built after the end of World War two is crumbling. It happened much before Trump took office as Capitalism was in crisis. Geo politics is in a flux and so far, despite calls for a multi-polar world, that has not materialised. But now have Trump's tariffs changed the geo political axis? PM's China visit and the SCO summit seem to be new avenues. But then is it really a beginning, given our history . Can China and Russia and India provide an alternative to US dominance.? Does India even want to be part of that alliance, considering India-China tensions. For now it suits both China and India to be on the same side for trade and economic cooperation. Beyond that optics if India and China ties will last is uncertain. But there is a shift in geo- politics and geo economics world-wide. Read this and more in the latest issue of Outlook.
There is a pressing need to map the gaps between branding claims and effective achievements on the foreign policy front, based on the parameters set by the Modi government itself.
India’s interests lie in a closer strategic partnership with the US, just as any American administration cannot ignore the world’s most populous country that is in a critical geography and has economic and military potential.
Even as Beijing continues to challenge conventional notions of democracy and human rights, America will have to decide what it stands for and what it wants from the world
India, China and Russia as well as most of the developing countries are committed to a multipolar world where policies are not decided by just one or two countries, but there are several power poles
Keeping relations on an even keel with China is important for India’s economic growth, but joining a world order led by it would be suicidal
Is India the face of the forces directed by Russia in a new, turbocharged geopolitical vehicle designed and built by China?
Like India, Africa, too, would prefer to stand straight rather than lean toward any side.
Donald Trump’s dismissal of India’s trade ties with Russia underscores the harsher political climate accompanying Washington’s tariffs
Tariff turbulence and India’s pursuit of strategic autonomy
There is a pressing need to map the gaps between branding claims and effective achievements on the foreign policy front, based on the parameters set by the Modi government itself.
India’s interests lie in a closer strategic partnership with the US, just as any American administration cannot ignore the world’s most populous country that is in a critical geography and has economic and military potential.
Even as Beijing continues to challenge conventional notions of democracy and human rights, America will have to decide what it stands for and what it wants from the world
India, China and Russia as well as most of the developing countries are committed to a multipolar world where policies are not decided by just one or two countries, but there are several power poles
Keeping relations on an even keel with China is important for India’s economic growth, but joining a world order led by it would be suicidal
Is India the face of the forces directed by Russia in a new, turbocharged geopolitical vehicle designed and built by China?
Like India, Africa, too, would prefer to stand straight rather than lean toward any side.
Donald Trump’s dismissal of India’s trade ties with Russia underscores the harsher political climate accompanying Washington’s tariffs
OTHER STORIES
India, unlike its neighbour, has a moral compass. The global community must stand with it, not as a matter of favour but survival
Arundhati Roy’s memoir is a search for answers rooted in the awareness that all puzzles are not meant to be solved
Since the start, Thakur steered his journalistic course with the abiding belief that words are powerful tools to speak truth to power. Neither the dictates of the powers-that-be nor the changing winds of politics in the country ever made him deviate from that course.
To his credit, Rajinikanth made the transition from cinema that was made for single screens and their unruly audiences to new-age films in which we see his young, VFX version
From Goa’s beaches to Kodaikanal’s misty hills, a personal journey unfolds—where curiosity over a number plate meets the chaos of monkeys rewriting the town’s quiet reputation.
