New Delhi, Feb. 23 -- Does the US Supreme Court verdict that scotched President Donald Trump's tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA)-for overstepping his authority to 'regulate' trade-offer India a chance to wriggle out of commitments under an Indo-US trade deal in the works?

Did New Delhi act in haste on this bilateral pact, given that his IEEPA barriers were still under legal scrutiny? Will last week's ruling end a wild reign of tariffs fired from the hip? The answer to all these questions is 'no.'

Nor does the 6-3 majority decision change India's twin needs to forge closer economic ties with the US and expose India's economy to greater foreign competition-except in hard-up fields devoid of market dynam...