India, Feb. 8 -- The United States' decision to scrap the 25 percent Russia-linked tariff on Indian imports goes beyond a routine trade adjustment. It reflects a formal strategic assessment that India has met a set of political, security, and economic conditions that Washington now treats as consequential.

By eliminating the punitive duty imposed under Executive Order 14329, the US administration has recorded, in writing, that India has taken what it describes as "significant steps" toward alignment with the United States on national security, foreign policy, and economic matters. The executive order makes clear that this assessment is conditional rather than open-ended. Any resumption, whether direct or indirect, of Russian oil imports ...