India, March 23 -- Lutnick and Navarro are not India people; they see trade and business through the prism of a broad-based economic value proposition to Make America Great Again (MAGA). This is the sentiment across Washington DC. Howard Lutnick is the US secretary of commerce. Peter Navarro is President Donald Trump's senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing. The point being made was that unlike in the Joe Biden era, the size and quality of the India file in the White House is unlikely to be determined by an overarching grand strategic commitment to India.

It will be informed, at least as interlocutors put it, by the extent to which both countries manage a trade deal. Further, what is clear is that Trump would like to see speedy pr...