India, May 9 -- The India-US trade relationship has never been easy and has occasionally even been hostile. From aid to estrangement, from sanctions to strategic partnership, it has been tempestuous and is currently somewhere between partnership and irritant. The trade agreement hangs in balance, and what has changed is not the asymmetry which has always been there, but the willingness to weaponise it openly - naturally, by the side that can.

The US currently is India's largest export destination, accounting for roughly 18% of India's merchandise exports. It is also the primary market for India's information technology (IT) services. The Indian diaspora in America generates remittances exceeding $32 billion annually. American institution...