India, Sept. 1 -- I have always wondered what causes our society to forget the lessons learned during trying times. Those hurt by US President Donald Trump's tariff tantrums should remember the Covid-19 pandemic. The US, along with most rich nations, erected regulatory walls to hoard life-saving drugs and vaccines for the exclusive use of their citizens. Remember, it is the same US that once termed the world a "global village", on the lines of the Indian concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), though with questionable intent. While our ancients were moved by the altruistic vision of the world sharing whatever there was, then US president, Bill Clinton, who had popularised the concept of global village, was interested in maximising his country's gains. The reality of the so-called global village vision unravelled during the Covid-19 pandemic. During its early days, Donald Trump, then in his first presidential stint, mocked its very existence and threw off his mask in a public show of defiance. When cemeteries started piling up with the dead, he labelled the Covid-19 pathogen a "Chinese virus". It was he who ordered reserving vaccines for US citizens. No one knows how much it helped the Americans, but, in terms of the numbers that died worldwide, the pandemic ended up wiping off many villages from the globe. In those days, a debate raged within India, on becoming self-reliant so as to be able to deal with any such future eventuality. This did result in some positive initiatives, but as the threat subsided, we reverted to our complacent ways. Many young men and women lost their jobs during the pandemic, moved to small towns or villages, started ventures of their own, and never returned to big cities. They were helping themselves and, as a consequence, improving their local business landscape. The governments, however, got too happy with the economic recovery, whatever alphabetical shape the curve took. Their approach towards policies such as "one district, one product" slackened. If they had continued with their aggressive and focused approach towards such policies, they would have acted as a buffer against the uncertain future we are facing today. It is possible that, in the near future, the US and India will thrash out a respectable trade deal. Trade depends on a win-win approach. It's not a one-way street. Still, India will have to strike a careful balance. We can achieve this as things will not deteriorate to the level witnessed during Covid-19. Five years ago, we faced a pandemic. Today, we are pitted against the eccentricities of one man and the temporary crisis that has resulted. But, if a new global economic order is emerging, why should we delay embracing it with open arms? India's Green Revolution resulted from US President Lyndon B Johnson's intransigence. We should now unleash an MSME revolution. It has the potential to make us truly self-reliant. MSMEs account for a large chunk of employment, and their products are easily consumed by the domestic market. This doesn't mean relegating India Inc to the periphery. Those Indian corporations that have dominated globally should carry on with their work. For a balance, India needs to ink trade deals with other countries, as it did with the UK recently. Many European nations have bluntly told US vice-president JD Vance that they are tired of the US's doublespeak. It is not India but China and Russia that are the bigger concerns for the US. Both Moscow and Beijing understand this perfectly well. This is the reason why Chinese President Xi Jinping commemorated the 75th year of India-China friendship by apparently sending a soulful letter to President Droupadi Murmu. The letter was perhaps an augury that the unfortunate bitterness of the past decade could soon abate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now in Tianjin, China, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Earlier, in an interview to a Japanese newspaper, Modi said that a stable, pre-negotiated, and cordial relationship between the two neighbours - the two most populous countries in the world - can have a positive effect on global peace and prosperity. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Delhi a couple of weeks ago to work out the necessary arrangements. Modi's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tianjin has its own significance, and a joint statement from there can play a pivotal role in creating a multipolar world. Before reaching China, Modi made significant economic deals in Tokyo - Japan is committed to investing $68 billion in India over the next 10 years. These agreements are bound to succeed. But we should always remember that no matter how many trade deals we strike with nations, they will only survive and thrive if we steadily grow stronger. The US attitude towards us has deteriorated as it thinks it can survive without India. While discussing China, let me remind you that just a 100 years ago, at least six of its cities were under varying degrees of foreign influence. Among them, Shanghai was under the US, British and French administrative control, while Beijing was the playground of the Americans, Russians, Japanese, and the French. Things have changed drastically since, and today China is the world's second-largest economy and military power. There's a tendency among a section of Indians to berate our country by incessantly comparing it with China. They conveniently forget the fact that China is run by a totalitarian government while India has a robust federal structure and a thriving democracy. People are free to say pretty much whatever they like, and the present discourse is its shining example. Our post-Independence progress despite our handicaps has irritated many. If China successfully outgrew its former colonial captors, we, too, have economically outshone our colonial master, the UK. Isn't the achievement inspiring enough for the present generation of nation builders, entrepreneurs, and citizens?...