India, Oct. 20 -- The US-India relationship has never been about transactions. It has been about compounding trust built through people, trade, and shared values. That is why the Trump administration's tariffs on Indian exports to the US and the imposition of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas matter more than their price tags. One targets products, the other people, but both stem from the same narrative that the Indo-US relationship is "one-sided".

Together, they threaten to turn what has been one of the world's most promising partnerships into a ledger of grievances. For India, which sends both the largest pool of H-1B applicants and one of America's fastest-growing export markets, these moves carry disproportionate weight. For the US, w...