Ƶ

Modi says relations with US ‘very positive’ after ties sour following Trump’s tariffs

Modi says relations with US ‘very positive’ after ties sour following Trump’s tariffs
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers an address during an event launch on Sept. 02, 2025. (Press Information Bureau)
Short Url
Updated 06 September 2025

Modi says relations with US ‘very positive’ after ties sour following Trump’s tariffs

Modi says relations with US ‘very positive’ after ties sour following Trump’s tariffs
  • PM’s statement comes after Trump says the two leaders ‘will always be friends’
  • New Delhi estimates US levies will impact $48.2bn worth of Indian exports

New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that New Delhi’s ties with Washington are still “very positive” as US President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on Indian exports puts a strain on relations between the two countries.

Last month, the US hiked the total duty on Indian exports to 50 percent in retaliation over India’s continued purchases of Russian oil. That is the highest level in Asia and one of the highest ever imposed on a major trading partner by an American administration.

Trump’s tariffs, part of his escalating global trade war, have caused a rift in India-US ties after years of strong bonds between the two leaders going back to the US president’s first term.

“India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership,” Modi wrote on X, adding: “(I) deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties.”

His statement followed Trump’s earlier remarks to reporters in Washington, where he said that he would “always be friends” with Modi.

“India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about,” Trump said.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Modi attaches “enormous importance” to New Delhi’s partnership with the US.

“He has always had a very good personal (relationship) with President Trump. But the point is that we remain engaged with the US,” Jaishankar told Indian news agency ANI on Saturday, indicating that the door is still open to continue trade negotiations.

India is bracing for the impacts of US tariffs, which New Delhi estimates will hit $48.2 billion worth of exports, with the Global Trade Research Initiative saying the levies could reduce Indian GDP by up to 0.9 of a percentage point.

There have been increasing calls in the world’s most populous country in recent weeks for a boycott of US brands, as Modi urged Indians to use “Swadeshi” — goods made in India.

Modi and Trump’s statements indicate that “both sides want to resolve outstanding issues” and “haven’t given up on each other,” Pranay Kotasthane, deputy director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent public policy center, told Arab News.

“But this yo-yoing will likely continue in the Trump administration,” he continued. “The volatility in the US will continue to affect its international relationships. Stability is the exception, not the norm.”

Mohan Guruswamy, a Delhi-based foreign policy expert, said Modi’s reaction to Trump’s recent remarks was “excessive,” noting that the tariffs still stand.

“Whether the tariff rate is brought down is the issue … The tariff is still there, (Trump’s) cabinet ministers, (Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, Peter) Navarro and others have called India all kinds of names. That is the official position. That has not been withdrawn,” he told Arab News.

Navarro has accused India of “helping feed the Russian war machine” and profiting from Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

“I think (the government is) desperate. They don’t have a sense of self-respect and shame,” Guruswamy said. “Lack of respect for India is increasing. Respect would be increased if you didn’t react hastily.”

Sanjay Kapoor, an analyst and political editor, believes it unlikely that Washington will reduce its steep tariffs on Indian goods.

“There’s obviously an attempt to show that a hostile trade policy doesn’t mean spoilt ties,” he told Arab News. “But now Trump has weaponized tariffs to suggest that the trade policy encompasses foreign policy too.”


Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows
Updated 2 sec ago

Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows
  • The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, found 59% of respondents backed U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, while 33% were opposed and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question
WASHINGTON: Most Americans - including 80% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans - think the U.S. should recognize Palestinian statehood, a sign that President Donald Trump's opposition to doing so is out of step with public opinion, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The six-day poll, which closed on Monday, found 59% of respondents backed U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, while 33% were opposed and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question.
About half of Trump's Republicans - 53% - opposed doing so, while 41% of Republicans said they would support the U.S. recognizing a Palestinian state. A growing number of countries - including U.S. allies Britain, Canada, France and Australia - have formally recognized Palestinian statehood in recent weeks, drawing condemnation from Israel, whose founding in 1948 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and decades of conflict. Israeli bombardments have leveled vast swaths of Palestinian neighborhoods in Gaza following an October 2023 surprise attack by Hamas militants on Israel.
Some 60% of poll respondents said Israel's response in Gaza was excessive, compared to 32% who disagreed.
Trump, who returned to the White House in January, has largely backed Israel in the war and this month brokered a ceasefire, raising hopes that lasting peace could be in reach.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll gave signs the U.S. public was ready to give Trump credit should his plan work. Some 51% of poll respondents agreed with a statement that Trump "deserves significant credit" if peace efforts are successful, compared with 42% who disagreed.
While only one in 20 Democrats approve of Trump's overall performance as president, one in four said he should get significant credit if the peace holds. Success on that front appears far from certain. An explosion of violence over the weekend threatened to derail the week-old truce and U.S. diplomats stepped up pressure on Israel and Hamas to get Trump's plan back on track. Key questions of Hamas disarming, further Israeli troop pullbacks and future governance of the Palestinian enclave remain unresolved.
Trump's approval rating on foreign policy appeared to be on a modest upswing, rising to 38% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, compared to 33% in a poll conducted earlier this month just ahead of the ceasefire deal. The latest rating was Trump's highest since July.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and gathered responses from 4,385 people nationwide. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

UK king to be first to pray with pope in five centuries

UK king to be first to pray with pope in five centuries
Updated 19 min 34 sec ago

UK king to be first to pray with pope in five centuries

UK king to be first to pray with pope in five centuries
  • King Charles and the Pope will pray together in the first such public religious moment since Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church after the then pope refused to annul his marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon

LONDON: King Charles III leaves for a state visit to the Vatican Wednesday, where he will meet Pope Leo XIV and make history as the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with the pontiff since the schism between the churches 500 years ago.
The visit comes at a delicate time for the British king following new revelations about his brother, Prince Andrew, who is mired in a scandal surrounding late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Charles and Queen Camilla will meet Leo for the first time since he succeeded the late pope Francis in May.
On Thursday, Charles and Leo will pray together in the first such public religious moment since Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church after the then pope refused to annul his marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon.
In 1961, the king’s mother, the late queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to visit the Holy See since the 16th-century fracture.
The two-day visit will “mark a significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor,” Buckingham Palace said.
Thursday’s ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel will be held under the magnificent ceiling adorned with the paintings by Michelangelo.
Its main theme will be conservation and protecting the environment, a cause which has been Charles’s life work.
It will bring together Catholic and Anglican traditions, with the choir from the Sistine Chapel being joined by that from Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, one of the residences of the king and queen.

- ‘Spiritual communion’ -

“It is a historic event principally because the king is supreme governor of the Church of England and required by law to be a Protestant,” said William Gibson, professor of theology at Oxford Brookes university.
“From 1536 to 1914 there were no formal diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See, and the mission was only upgraded to an embassy in 1982,” he told AFP.
Charles and Queen Camilla are also set to take part in an ecumenical religious service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, part of a symbolic visit underscoring ties between the Anglican and Catholic Churches.
During the Vatican visit, the king will be formally made a “Royal Confrater” of the abbey adjoining the basilica — a gesture Buckingham Palace described as recognizing a “spiritual communion” between the two denominations.
A specially designed seat for Charles III will be installed in the basilica and preserved for use by future British monarchs.
The visit coincides with preparations for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year, held every 25 years, which draws millions of pilgrims to the Vatican.
It also comes a day after the publication of the posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre who alleges she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with the king’s younger brother Prince Andrew on three occasions, including twice when she was just 17.
Andrew announced on Friday he would relinquish his title as Duke of York, reportedly under pressure from Charles. He had already stepped back from royal duties in 2019.
The 76-year-old king meanwhile continues to receive treatment for cancer, which was publicly disclosed in early 2024.
The monarch is no stranger to the Vatican having visited the Holy See several times in the past.
He and Camilla met privately with pope Francis on April 9, just days before the pontiff’s death, during a state visit to Italy.


Celebrities, AI giants urge end to superintelligence quest

Celebrities, AI giants urge end to superintelligence quest
Updated 35 min 35 sec ago

Celebrities, AI giants urge end to superintelligence quest

Celebrities, AI giants urge end to superintelligence quest
  • More than 700 scientists, political figures and celebrities called for an end to the development of artificial intelligence capable of outsmarting humans

PARIS: More than 700 scientists, political figures and celebrities including Prince Harry, Richard Branson and Steve Bannon on Wednesday called for an end to the development of artificial intelligence capable of outsmarting humans.
“The initiative calls for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence until the technology is reliably safe and controllable, and has public buy-in,” according to an open letter published by the Future of Life Institute, a US-based NGO that campaigns against the dangers of AI.
Signatories include the “Godfather of AI” and 2024 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics Geoffrey Hinton; Computer Sciences Professor at the University of California in Berkeley Stuart Russell; and the world’s most-cited AI scientist Yoshua Bengio of the University of Montreal.
A raft of other public figures have signed: Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, US President Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon, and former president Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice.
The initiative is also endorsed by the Vatican’s AI expert Paolo Benanti and celebrities such as Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, and the US singer will.i.am.
Most major AI developers are striving for artificial general intelligence (AGI), a stage where AI would match all human intellectual capabilities, and even superintelligence, which would exceed them.
Speaking at an event organized by the media group Axel Springer in September, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company created ChatGPT, said that superintelligence could be achieved within the next five years.
Future of Life Institute President Max Tegmark told AFP that companies should not aim for such an objective without any regulatory framework.
“Many people want powerful AI tools for science, medicine, productivity, and other benefits,” the co-founder of the institute Anthony Aguirre added on Wednesday.
“But the path AI corporations are taking, of racing toward smarter-than-human AI that is designed to replace people, is wildly out of step with what the public wants, scientists think is safe, or religious leaders feel is right.”
The open letter echoes another, published one month ago by AI researchers and sector workers during the United Nations General Assembly, which called for governments “to reach an international agreement on red lines for AI” by the end of 2026.


Ukraine unveils upgraded sea drone it says can strike anywhere in the Black Sea

Ukraine unveils upgraded sea drone it says can strike anywhere in the Black Sea
Updated 45 min 3 sec ago

Ukraine unveils upgraded sea drone it says can strike anywhere in the Black Sea

Ukraine unveils upgraded sea drone it says can strike anywhere in the Black Sea
  • Ukraine has used the unmanned naval drones to target Russian shipping and infrastructure in the Black Sea
  • The Sea Baby has evolved from a single-use strike craft into a reusable, multipurpose platform

KYIV: Ukraine’s state security service has unveiled an upgraded sea drone it says can now operate anywhere in the Black Sea, carry heavier weapons and use artificial intelligence for targeting.
Ukraine has used the unmanned naval drones to target Russian shipping and infrastructure in the Black Sea. The Security Service of Ukraine, known by its Ukrainian acronym SBU, has credited strikes by the unmanned vessel known as the “Sea Baby” with forcing a strategic shift in Russia’s naval operations.
The range of the Sea Baby was expanded from 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles), SBU said. It can carry up to 2,000 kilograms (about 4,400 pounds) of payload, SBU officials said.
At a demonstration attended by The Associated Press, variants included vessels fitted with a multiple-rocket launcher and another with a stabilized machine-gun turret.
SBU Brig. Gen. Ivan Lukashevych said the new vessels also feature AI-assisted friend-or-foe targeting systems and can launch small aerial attack drones and multilayered self-destruct systems to prevent capture.
Developing a new kind of naval warfare
Drone strikes have been used in successful attacks against 11 Russian vessels, including frigates and missile carriers, SBU said, prompting the Russian navy to relocate its main base from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
“The SBU became the first in the world to pioneer this new kind of naval warfare – and we continue to advance it,” Lukashevych said, adding that the Sea Baby has evolved from a single-use strike craft into a reusable, multipurpose platform that expands Ukraine’s offensive options.
Authorities asked that the time and location of the demonstration not be made public for security reasons.
The craft are operated remotely from a mobile control center inside a van, where operators use a bank of screens and controls.
“Cohesion of the crew members is probably the most important thing. We are constantly working on that,” said one operator who was identified only by his call sign, “Scout,” per Ukrainian military protocol.
Ukrainian sea drones helped push back Russia’s navy
The SBU also said sea drones helped carry out other high-profile strikes, including repeated attacks on the Crimean Bridge, most recently targeting its underwater supports in a bid to to render it unusable for heavy military transport.
The Sea Baby program is partially funded by public donations through a state-run initiative and is coordinated with Ukraine’s military and political leadership.
The evolution from expendable strike boats to reusable, networked drones marks an important advance in asymmetric naval warfare, Lukashevych said.
“On this new product, we have installed rocket weaponry that will allow us to work from a large distance outside of the attack range of enemy fire. We can use such platforms to carry heavy weaponry,” he said. “Here we can show Ukrainians the most effective use of the money they have donated to us.”


‘Stealth husband’ of Japan’s new PM vows quiet support

‘Stealth husband’ of Japan’s new PM vows quiet support
Updated 22 October 2025

‘Stealth husband’ of Japan’s new PM vows quiet support

‘Stealth husband’ of Japan’s new PM vows quiet support
  • Taku Yamamoto a former LDP lawmaker, married Sanae Takaichi in 2004, but the couple divorced in 2017
  • They re-married in 2021, after Yamamoto supported Takaichi when she ran unsuccessfully for the LDP leadership contest

TOKYO: The spouse of Japan’s first woman Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes to support her by being a “stealth husband,” cooking meals but staying out of the spotlight.
“Unlike in the West, it is better for a partner to stay out of the spotlight,” Fukui Television quoted Taku Yamamoto, 73, as saying on Tuesday after Takaichi became premier.
He said it was essential that Takaichi, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership this month, can “pursue her vision of Prime Minister.”
“I want to provide solid support as ‘a stealth husband’ to ensure that my presence does not become an obstacle to that,” he added, according to the Asahi newspaper, Fuji Television and other media.
Yamamoto, a former LDP lawmaker, married Takaichi in 2004, but the couple divorced in 2017 citing “differences in political views.”
They re-married in 2021, after Yamamoto reportedly supported Takaichi when she ran unsuccessfully for the LDP leadership contest that year. In the subsequent snap election he lost his seat.
License to cook
Takaichi’s views on gender place the 64-year-old on the right of an already conservative LDP.
She named only two other women to her cabinet, with Satsuki Katayama as finance minister and Kimi Onoda as economic security minister.
Takaichi opposes revising a 19th-century law requiring married couples to share the same surname, a rule that overwhelmingly results in women taking their husband’s name.
This is despite the difficulties that the law has given the couple.
During Takaichi and Yamamoto’s first marriage, she took his name for official purposes. In the second, he took hers.
They live in a housing complex for members of parliament in Tokyo, where Takaichi helps care for Yamamoto after he suffered a stroke this year and was also diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024, reports said.
Media reports said that he first proposed to Takaichi in 2004 over the phone.
He told her that “as I have a chef’s license, I’ll make sure you eat delicious food throughout your life,” Jiji Press reported.
Takaichi, an admirer of Margaret Thatcher and a heavy metal drummer in her youth, said that he “was a rather unsociable person, someone I would say I wasn’t very comfortable to be with.”
But he won her over, saying “if you’re seriously looking for a marriage partner, I’m divorced so I’ll run as a candidate,” Takaichi said on her website.
Takaichi had lost her parliamentary seat in 2003 but regained it two years later, so both of them became parliament members.
Since Takaichi was not good at cooking, he continued to prepare meals, saying, “the kitchen is my domain, so please don’t enter,” Jiji said.