New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- The Alaska summit failed to pull the rug we had hoped it would: the US pretext for its 25% secondary tariff on Indian imports, ostensibly imposed for buying Russian oil. A 'ceasefire' in Europe, the stated aim of US President Donald Trump's face-to-face meeting in Anchorage with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin, seemed just as elusive as it has been since the latter's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

"There is no deal until there's a deal," was Trump's take on the outcome after both parted, a signal that talks would go on.

Also Read: India-US standoff over Russian oil: Let's not waver but resolve it

If sighs of relief were heaved in some world capitals, it was because the meeting did not go down in history as Yalta II; it ...