New Delhi, Feb. 9 -- In a world of trade roiled by US President Donald Trump, it is good news that choppy seas promise to settle for shipments between Indian and American ports. Only a framework for an interim trade deal has been decided so far, but it lets us look farther over the horizon with anticipation.

In today's context, mutually lowered market barriers signal that India and the US are moving closer, not apart.

Last year's storm of geopolitics, seen in Trump's selective targeting of India with an add-on 25% punitive tariff for buying oil from Russia while ignoring the imports of China, Turkey, Japan, Hungary, et al, has finally blown over.

This matters for business, finance and our broad economic prospects, not just for trade. T...