Close to making a deal with India: Trump amid fresh tariffs on fourteen nations
New York/Washington (PTI): The US is close to making a trade deal with India, President Donald Trump has said.
“Now, we've made a deal with the United Kingdom, we've made a deal with China….We're close to making a deal with India. Others we met with and we don't think we're going to be able to make a deal, so we just send them a letter. If you want to play ball, this is what you have to pay,” Trump said on Monday.
The remarks came as the Trump administration sent out the first tranche of “letters” to various countries Monday detailing the tariffs that the US will impose on products from those countries entering America.
The countries that got these letters, signed by Trump, were Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia.
“We're sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay,” Trump said.
He added that the countries were “ripping” the US and “were charging us tariffs at levels that nobody's ever seen before. We have some countries that were charging 200% tariffs and making it impossible to do business.
“And what the tariffs are doing is they're driving people in and companies into the United States,” he said while speaking to reporters ahead of a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Monday.
Trump also repeated the claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan by telling the two neighbours that Washington would not do trade with them if they continued the fighting.
“We did a job with India and Pakistan, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda and the Congo, and this was all over the last three weeks or so… and others that were ready to fight,” Trump said.
“And we stopped a lot of fights. I think the very big one, frankly, a very, very big one, was India and Pakistan. And we stopped that over trade," he said.
"We said we're not going to be dealing with you at all if you're going to fight. And they were maybe at a nuclear stage. They're both nuclear powers. And I think stopping that was very important,” Trump added.
Trump went on to say that the US is trying to help out with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, calling it a (Joe) “Biden-created monster”.
“This whole thing that's happening with Russia and Ukraine, horrible, it's a horrible thing. And I'm not happy with Russian President (Vladimir) Putin at all. But this is something that would have never happened if I were president. This is a war that was never going to happen,” Trump said.
At the dinner, Netanyahu presented Trump with a letter that he had sent to the Nobel Prize Committee nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Previously, Trump has bemoaned that he won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the war between India and Pakistan or for his efforts in the Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Iran conflicts.
Since May 10, Trump has repeated more than a dozen times his claim that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan and that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America will do a “lot of trade” with them if they stop the conflict.
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K’taka HC declines stay on menstrual leave order, says issue of public importance
Bengaluru: The State Government has strongly defended its decision to grant one day of paid menstrual leave every month to women employees, telling the Karnataka High Court that the notification was issued in the larger interest of women and is legally sound. The Court, treating the matter as one of significant public importance, refused to stay the implementation of the order and adjourned the hearing to January 20.
The Labour Department’s November 20, 2025 notification was challenged by the Bangalore Hotels Association, Avirat Defence System, Facile Aerospace Technologies Ltd and Samos Technologies Ltd. Justice Jyoti Mulimani heard the petitions on Wednesday.
At the start of the hearing, the bench asked whether the State had filed its objections. Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty informed the Court that objections had been submitted and that copies would be provided to the petitioners.
Defending the notification, the Advocate General said the government had introduced a progressive measure aimed at women’s welfare, one that no other state in India had implemented so far. He told the Court that 72 objections were received and considered before finalising the notification. He argued that the government was empowered to frame such policy under Article 42 of the Constitution and noted that the Supreme Court and the Law Commission had earlier made recommendations in this direction.
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When the Court asked whether the notification applied to all sectors, the Advocate General replied in the affirmative. The bench observed that the matter required detailed hearing because of its wider public impact and decided to take it up in January. The Court added that petitioners may file their responses to the State’s objections before the next hearing.
Petitioners’ counsel B.K. Prashanth requested that the State be restrained from enforcing the order until the case is decided. The Advocate General responded that the government had already begun implementing the notification across all sectors.
Justice Mulimani noted that nothing would change between now and the next hearing and emphasised that the Court would consider all arguments thoroughly before issuing any direction. The bench then adjourned the matter to January 20 and asked petitioners to file any additional applications with copies to the State’s counsel.
