New Delhi, Aug. 28 -- In the wake of the US tariff onslaught, India recently inked the terms of reference to launch free trade agreement talks with the Eurasian Economic Union, a $6.5 trillion economic bloc. Diversification in pursuit of new markets such as Central Asia is a necessary hedge against America's protectionist turn. But this does not obviate the need for tangible parallel negotiations with Washington in areas of strategic interest in a way that shields our domestic production in important sectors.

What began as a set of 'reciprocal' global tariffs in seeming pursuit of trade parity has morphed into a geo-economic play, with India now facing a combined 50% hit-25% baseline tariff plus another 25% penalty linked to our oil impo...