India, Aug. 2 -- Depending on who you are reading, the 25% tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on India, and the flurry of his petulant tweets, have not provoked the Indian government to respond. For once, there is benefit in the ponderous nature of Indian bureaucracy. A slanging match with Trump is beneath India and it would only encourage more petulant behaviour. If the world's biggest democracy cannot show propriety, at least the world's oldest needs to display dignity. This controversy has many layers which are worth unpacking.

First, to take America's point, a re-adjustment of tariffs is not necessarily a bad thing, and it may even have been required. Overdependence on American largesse was never going to be sustainable i...