Mapusa, Feb. 3 -- Former Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar on Tuesday described the recently announced India-US trade agreement as the "first child" of the landmark India-EU trade deal, which he called the "mother of all trade deals" announced on 27 January.

In his view, the Americans caught the message. "India had finessed the American market with the trade deal with Europe. President Trump's attempt to use tariffs as aggression in order to make India kowtow, in order to make India bow down, had been very neatly sidelined because it is obvious that the American, that the Indian gems, the Indian seafood, Indian textiles, which are now being denied the American market, would find an equally big market in European Union, maki...