Letters to The Editor — October 31, 2025

The ‘Trump’ card

While U.S. President Donald Trump often boasts about his “close friendship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — referring to him as a “nicest looking guy… he’s tough as hell” — his imposition of unprecedented punitive trade tariffs on India contradicts this notion (Front page, October 30). This use of “friendship” while simultaneously undermining India’s economic interests reveals a profound lack of diplomatic credibility. Mr. Trump’s recent speeches and policy decisions on the global stage, often driven by a perceived need to assert his position as the “tallest leader”, create an alarmingly unpredictable environment for U.S.-India relations. His pattern of commending a leader one day and criticising him the next demonstrates a deeply unreliable diplomatic stance. The most striking evidence of his double standard lies in his trade policy. Indian diplomacy must not be swayed by these sweeping, ephemeral praises directed at India’s Prime Minister. The government must instead seriously consider the implications of Mr. Trump’s dual-policy approach.

C. Raghavan,

Chennai

The heading of the report may sound positive — “U.S. is doing a trade deal with India, says Trump” — but Mr. Trump is indeed blowing hot and cold over the trade deal issue. His effusive praise for the Prime Minister can only be taken with a pinch of salt. This seems to be the precursor to another round of shenanigans in order to confuse India. Much to New Delhi’s chagrin, Mr. Trump has once again repeated his alleged claim of ‘stopping the India-Pakistan war’. Perhaps Mr. Trump is fishing for an acknowledgement from Mr. Modi for his oft-repeated claim. It is imperative that India treads cautiously with Washington while striving for a mutually beneficial trade deal with the U.S.

Aanya Singhal,

Noida, Uttar Pradesh

American policy

In the Trump era and the American administration’s stand on immigration, I am reminded of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, as an allegory for the Red Scare, that drew parallels between the 1692 Salem Witch Trials and the political persecution of the 1950s McCarthy era to critique the mass hysteria. Is not the same paranoia being recreated today by the Trump administration in the name of securing America’s sovereignty and territorial integrity? The restrictive “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) signed into law, arbitrary policies such as suspending the entry of people suspected of posing a public health risk, mandatory detention, rolling back parole, and terminating temporary protected status for countries such as Haiti, the Honduras and Nicaragua preclude/precluded the possibility of safe passage or humanitarian assistance to migrants fleeing war and persecution. In the cloak of safeguarding its national interests, what is happening in America borders is nothing less than jingoism as it is directing massive funds toward systemic detentions and deportations of so-called “removable aliens”.

Let America’s history of invasion, removal and oppression not repeat itself in the garb of reformist migration policies.

Sunaina Jain,

Chandigarh

The idea of American exceptionalism is a sham. Borrowing from Achille Mbembe’s concept of “necropolitics” — which discusses the colonising propensities of democracies as they tend to construct the “other” within themselves in order to exercise their exclusionary politics in the name of development — it can be argued that Mr. Trump’s idea of an ideal nation too is based on marginalising and dehumanising a few people as “immigrants” in the name of development in order to exercise his so-called agendas. By rendering lives precarious as if they never mattered, he has challenged the very discourse of ‘liberalism’ that America thrives on.

A set of people who, until now, have been diligently contributing to the ‘liberal’ status of the United States are suddenly mere outsiders. This not only makes us wonder how knowledge and discourse are produced and re-produced by people in power, but also how certain lives are categorised as invaluable by people in power as and when they wish.

Ashima Gupta,

Patiala, Punjab

Island project

The Great Nicobar Project forces us to ask the question, “what is true development”? It is evident that the project is driven more by economic goals than by ecological or human concerns. Decisions of this kind, which have far-reaching repercussions, are taken with hurried clearances, minimal public debate and almost no regard for the voices of those affected. Communities are reduced to mere statistics, and the environment is treated as an obstacle. Yet, we speak proudly of sustainability. Real progress should strengthen the bond between a land and its people, by preserving biodiversity and respecting the lives of those who inhabit it.

Nishana C.M.,

Katpadi, Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Cloud seeding, pollution

Every winter, Delhi’s air quality deteriorates, and this year is no exception. The flawed experiment with cloud seeding suggests that experiments alone cannot address the deep-rooted causes. There must be structural and sustainable changes — stricter emission controls, greener transport and better urban planning.

Fawaz Hamza,

Kozhikode, Kerala

‘Ro-Ko’, retirement

In the third ODI match against Australia, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli single-handedly led India to victory, saving the team from a whitewash. Although it is true that the series was lost, talk about their ‘retirement’ should end. Fans now expect the duo to fulfil the dream that they narrowly missed last time — winning India its third World Cup in the 2027 World Cup.

Dattaprasad Shirodkar,

Mumbai