Category: Latest News

WASHINGTON: US President Trump says he still wants a ‘fair deal’ with China, but signals that it’s up to Beijing to make the next move, stressing that lowering tariffs depends on what China does. 

About the ‘fair deal’, his top officials offered few details on how Washington might de-escalate its damaging tariff war with Beijing.

Trump told reporters his country would have a “fair deal with China,” adding that “everything’s active” when asked whether Washington was talking to Beijing.

However, how soon the tariffs might be lowered “depends on them,” Trump said, referring to Beijing, even as he maintained that he gets along “very well” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and hopes they can reach an agreement.

Trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies have soared as Trump ramped up levies on imports from China this year, imposing an additional 145 percent tariff on many products over practices Washington has deemed unfair, and other issues.

Beijing, in turn, has retaliated with new 125 percent tariffs on US goods.

Despite signals that Washington is looking towards a fair agreement, the state of discussions remains murky.

Asked whether there is direct US contact with China on trade, Trump said: “Every day.”

Yet earlier Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that both countries are “not yet” talking when it comes to lowering tariffs.

“I think both sides are waiting to speak to the other,” he said at an event on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings in Washington.

He added that there is no unilateral offer from Trump to slash duties on Chinese goods.

‘An embargo’

Bessent said the staggeringly high tariffs both countries have imposed on each other’s goods must come down before negotiations can occur.

“I don’t think either side believes that the current tariff levels are sustainable, so I would not be surprised if they went down in a mutual way,” he added on the sidelines of an Institute of International Finance forum.

“This is the equivalent of an embargo, and a break between the two countries in trade does not suit anyone’s interest,” Bessent said, stressing that “de-escalation by both sides is possible.”

But he gave no timeframe on how soon bilateral talks could take place.

“It’s both a blessing and a curse that the strongest relationship is at the very top,” Bessent said, referring to Trump’s ties with Chinese counterpart Xi. However, with “any de-escalation, the talks would not begin at the very top.”

While Trump has swiftly rolled out sharp tariffs on different countries and sectors, he has also been quick to introduce certain exemptions — most recently a temporary reprieve for tech products like smartphones and chipmaking tools.

He could broaden the carve-outs, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, saying Trump could exempt car parts from some tariffs on Chinese imports — alongside those on steel and aluminium.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump said he was not considering changes to US auto tariffs but noted that levies on Canada could rise in terms of cars.

Separately, Bessent said Wednesday that he did not have a stance on whether the president had the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he wanted to.

He suggested Trump’s previous comment that the “termination” of Powell could not come fast enough might also refer to the end of the Fed chief’s term.

Earlier Wednesday, Bessent said in a speech that Beijing’s export-reliant economic model is “unsustainable” and “not only harming China but the entire world.”

He stressed US concerns around trade imbalances that the Trump administration says it hopes to address through sweeping tariffs.

But Bessent maintained that “America first does not mean America alone.”

He insisted that the administration’s moves are broadly a call for deeper collaboration and mutual respect among trading partners, while taking aim at policy choices by other countries that he said have hollowed out US manufacturing and put its security at risk.

NEW YORK: In a defiant moving against President Donald Trump, US academics have united against the administration’s policies with over 100 university, college and scholarly society presidents issuing a joint statement opposing the administration’s treatment of higher education institutions.

The development follows Harvard University’s announcement saying that the White House was threatening its independence.

The statement, signed by presidents from such institutions as Princeton, Brown, the University of Hawaii and Connecticut State Community College, criticised what it described as “the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.”

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight,” the statement said. “However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the statement.

Tuesday’s joint statement is the latest show of resistance from US higher education leaders as the Trump administration seeks to leverage its financial heft to overhaul academia.

On April 14 Harvard rejected numerous demands from the administration, which is seeking oversight of Harvard’s student body, faculty and curriculum in an apparent effort to curb what it perceives as the university’s liberal bias.

Soon after, the administration announced it was freezing $2.3 billion in federal funding to the school.

According to White House spokesperson Harrison Fields’ statement at that time, Trump wants to ensure taxpayer dollars do not support racial discrimination or racially motivated violence.

The administration also threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and take away its ability to enrol foreign students.

On Monday Harvard sued the Trump administration to try to force it to end its orders freezing funds and withdraw demands it has made, accusing the federal government of trying to “overhaul Harvard’s governance, control Harvard’s faculty hiring and dictate what faculty may teach Harvard students” for ideological reasons.

Harvard said in its suit that government attempts to “coerce and control” the university violated the Constitution’s protections for speech. It also accused the government of failing to follow procedures set out under federal civil rights laws.

Since his January inauguration, Republican President Donald Trump has cracked down on top US universities, saying they mishandled last year’s protests and allowed antisemitism to fester on campus.

His administration has also targeted universities for other issues such as transgender rights and diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, and has threatened to withhold federal funding over these issues.

Columbia University was an early target but in recent weeks, the administration has focused on Harvard.

On April 15 over 60 past and present college and university presidents signed an open letter saying they “strongly support” Harvard President Alan Garber’s rejection of the administration’s demands.

WASHINGTON/LONDON/PARIS: US President Donald Trump has clashed with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy over Kyiv’s refusal to recognise Russia’s claim to Crimea, warning that the US could walk away from ongoing peace talks.

Trump’s Vice President JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a US peace proposal “or for the United States to walk away from the process,” echoing a warning Trump gave last week.

Speaking to reporters in India, Vance said the proposal called for freezing territorial lines “at some level close to where they are today” and a “long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace.”

“The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing,” he said.

A former Western official familiar with the US proposal said it also called for the recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Wednesday in a post on X that he stressed to the US in London that Ukraine “will stand firm on its core principles during the negotiations” that relate to sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zelenskiy on Tuesday reiterated that Ukraine will not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea, saying: “There’s nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.”

Trump, who argued with Zelenskiy in a televised Oval Office meeting in March, called this an inflammatory statement that made a peace deal harder to achieve.

The US president said Crimea was lost years ago “and is not even a point of discussion.”

“Nobody is asking Zelenskiy to recognise Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Russian fighters seized control of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 in a move that was condemned internationally. Few countries recognise Russia’s claim to Crimea.

Trump scolded the Ukrainian leader and said the US was trying to stop the killing in his country and that they were “very close to a deal” for peace.

Since taking office in January, Trump has sharply altered the US approach, pressing Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire while easing many measures the Biden administration took to punish Russia for its 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Nevertheless, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said after Wednesday’s talks that Kyiv was committed to working with the US to achieve peace.

Rubio cancels London trip

Earlier, US, Ukrainian and European officials met in London for peace talks aimed at ending the three-year war. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cancelled his trip there, raising questions over how much progress was being made.

Rubio’s no-show prompted cancellation of a broader meeting with foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany, underscoring the gaps between Washington, Kyiv and its European allies over how to bring an end to the war.

Trump has warned Washington could walk away if there was no progress on a deal soon. He raised the pressure on Sunday when he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the conflict.

At the heart of Wednesday’s talks was an attempt to establish what Kyiv could possibly accept after Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff presented proposals to a similar session in Paris last week. Three diplomats said those proposals appeared to demand more concessions from Ukraine than Russia.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer played down any disappointment over Rubio’s abrupt cancellation and said the talks involved “substantive technical meetings with European, US and Ukrainian officials on how to stop the fighting.”

“We remain absolutely committed to securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and these talks today are an important part of that,” the spokesperson said.

One official close to the negotiations said progress was being made.

Since Trump expressed his desire to broker peace in Ukraine and made a surprise call to Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, European nations have scrambled to find ways to support Kyiv against Moscow while keeping the US onside.

But Witkoff’s proposals, which several sources have said included recognising Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Washington beginning to lift sanctions on Russia and ruling out Ukrainian membership of NATO, were unacceptable to both Kyiv and other European nations.

Sources said US proposals include Ukraine and the Europeans accepting Russia’s control of the 20% of Ukraine’s territory that it has gained in the war. Russia is pushing for lifting of EU sanctions against it before negotiations are finished, which Europe staunchly opposes, diplomats said.

A source close to the discussions said the downgrading of the parley came after Ukraine drafted a paper for the Europeans on Tuesday in which it said there would be no discussions on territorial issues until “a full and unconditional ceasefire”.

AMMAN: Jordan has banned all activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and closed its offices in the kingdom, the interior minister announced on Wednesday.

“It has been decided to ban all activities of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood and to consider any activity (carried out by it) a violation of the provisions of the law,” said Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya, adding they would “close any offices or headquarters used by the group, even if they are in partnership with any other parties”.

There was no immediate comment from the movement, which has operated legally in Jordan for decades and has widespread grass-roots support in major urban centres and scores of offices across the country.

Fraya said all the activities of the group would be banned and anyone promoting its ideology would be held accountable by law.

The ban includes publishing anything by the group and closure and confiscation of all its offices and property, he added.

Opponents of the Brotherhood, which is outlawed in most Arab countries, say it is a dangerous terrorist group which must be crushed. The movement says it publicly drenounced violence decades ago and pursues an Islamist vision using peaceful means.

India’s defence minister vowed on Wednesday a swift response to those who carried out and planned the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) worst attack with security forces launching a massive hunt for attackers suspected of killing 26 men at a tourist destination.

At least 17 people were also injured in the shooting that took place on Tuesday in the Baisaran valley in the Pahalgam area of the scenic, Himalayan federal territory of IIOJK. The dead included 25 Indians and one Nepalese national, police said.

It was the worst attack on civilians since the 2008 Mumbai shootings, and shattered the relative calm in IIOJK, where tourism has boomed as an anti-India insurgency has waned in recent years.

The attack is seen as a setback to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)..

Modi cut short his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi on Wednesday morning. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also cutting short her visit to the United States and Peru “to be with our people in this difficult and tragic time”, her ministry said.

Modi held a meeting with the national security adviser, the foreign minister and other senior officials at the airport and a special security cabinet meeting was called for 1230 GMT, a defence ministry official said.

“We will not only reach those who have perpetrated this incident but also those who, sitting behind the scenes, have conspired to commit such acts on the soil of India,” Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said ahead of the meeting.

“There will be a loud and clear response soon,” he said at a memorial lecture for a former Indian Air Force chief.

Hunt for attackers

Security forces rushed to the Pahalgam area soon after the attack and began combing the forests there, two security sources told Reuters. About 100 people, suspected to have been rebel sympathisers in the past, were called to police stations and questioned, they added.

Police also released sketches of three of the four suspected attackers, who were dressed in traditional long shirts and loose trousers and one of them was wearing a bodycam, one security source said. There were about 1,000 tourists and about 300 local service providers and workers in the valley when the attack took place, he said.

A little-known group, the “Kashmir Resistance”, claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. It expressed discontent that more than 85,000 “outsiders” had been settled in the region, spurring a “demographic change”.

“We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said in a statement. “We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”

Kashmir shutdown

On Wednesday, over a dozen local organisations called for a shutdown in the occupied territory to protest against the attack on tourists, whose rising numbers have helped the local economy.

Many schools also suspended classes for the day in protest.

The shutdown was total and protesters turned out in several locations shouting slogans such as “Stop killing innocents”, “Tourists are our lives”, “It is an attack on us”.

“I want to say to the people of the country that we are ashamed, Kashmir is ashamed,” former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement. “We are standing with you in this time of crisis.”

Airlines were ope]rating extra flights from Srinagar, the summer capital of the territory, as visitors were rushing out of the region, officials said.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests,” serving Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on X, adding that the main highway connecting Srinagar to the rest of the country, which was damaged by heavy rain, had been opened for one-way traffic out of Srinagar to help tourists leaving by road.

While some local tourist operators said they were already getting cancellations for the upcoming peak summer season, the local unit of the Travel Agents Federation of India condemned the attack.

Trump offers full support to India

US President Donald Trump called Modi to quickly offer “full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”.

Among the foreign leaders condemning the attack and offering support, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen pledged that “Europe will stand with you”.

India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory. In recent years, the authorities have promoted the mountainous region as a holiday destination, both for skiing in winter, and to escape the sweltering summer heat elsewhere in India.

Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, mostly domestic visitors.

The worst attack in recent years took place in Pulwama in February 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a police convoy, killing 40 and wounding at least 35 others.

India revoked IIOJK’s special status in 2019, splitting the state into two federally administered territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The move allowed local authorities to issue domicile rights to outsiders, allowing them to get jobs and buy land in the disputed Himalayan territory. That led to a deterioration of ties with Pakistan. The dispute has spurred bitter animosity and military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Attacks targeting tourists in IIOJK have been rare. The last deadly incident took place in June 2024 when at least nine people were killed and 33 injured after an attack caused a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims to plunge into a deep gorge.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkiye’s AFAD disaster agency said, one of the strongest quakes to strike the city of 16 million in recent years.

There were no immediate reports of damage, but people evacuated buildings as the quake hit and shook the city, located on the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus strait.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 12:49 (0949 GMT) was in the area of Silivri, some 80 km (50 miles) to the west of Istanbul. It was at a depth of 6.92 km (4.3 miles), AFAD said.

Broadcaster TGRT reported that one person had been injured as a result of jumping off a balcony during the quake, which occurred during a public holiday in Turkey.

AFAD warned people in the region against entering damaged buildings.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said the earthquake had a magnitude 6.02. It was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles) GFZ said.

Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, Roman Catholic cardinals decided on Tuesday, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that will draw leaders from around the world.

Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.

The pontiff spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year suffering from double pneumonia. But he returned to the Vatican almost a month ago and had seemed to be recovering, appearing in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.

The Vatican on Tuesday released photographs of Francis dressed in his vestments and laid in a wooden coffin in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy. Swiss Guards stand on either side of the casket.

His body will be taken into the adjacent St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning at 9:00am (0700 GMT), in a procession led by cardinals, allowing the faithful to pay their last respects to the first Latin American pope.

His funeral service will be held in St Peter’s Square, in the shadow of the Basilica, on Saturday at 10:00am (0800 GMT).

US President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope about immigration, said he and his wife would fly to Rome for the service.

Among other heads of state set to attend were Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a source in his office.

Ancient rituals

In a break from tradition, Francis confirmed in his final testament released on Monday that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not St Peter’s, where many of his predecessors were laid to rest.

Francis’s sudden death has set in motion ancient rituals, as the 1.4-billion-member Church started the transition from one pope to another, including the breaking of the pope’s “Fisherman’s Ring” and lead seal, used in his lifetime to seal documents, so they cannot be used by anyone else.

All cardinals in Rome were summoned to a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the sequencing of events in the coming days and review the day-to-day running of the Church in the period before a new pope is elected.

A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before May 6.

Some 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballot, which can stretch over days before white smoke pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world that a new pope has been picked.

At present there is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis.

Progressive

Pope Francis inherited a Church in disarray and worked hard to overhaul the Vatican’s central administration, root out corruption and, after a slow start, confront the scourge of child abuse within the ranks of the priesthood.

He often clashed with conservatives, nostalgic for a traditional past, who saw Francis as overly liberal and too accommodating to minority groups, such as the LGBTQ community.

Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors scattered across the world who will choose the next pope, increasing, but not guaranteeing, the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies.

Many of the cardinals are little known outside their own countries and they will have a chance to get to know one another at meetings known as General Congregations that take place in the days before a conclave starts and where a profile of the qualities needed for the next pope will take shape.

The Vatican said late on Monday that staff and officials within the Holy See could immediately start to pay their respects before the pope’s body at the Santa Marta residence, where Francis set up home in 2013, shunning the grand, apostolic palace his predecessors had lived in.

More than 80% of the world’s coral reefs have suffered from severe mass bleaching due to unprecedented ocean temperatures, according to scientific authorities.

This phenomenon, characterised by corals expelling the vibrant algae crucial for their survival, has resulted in many reefs losing their once-vibrant colours, leaving them ghostly pale.

The ongoing fourth mass bleaching event, confirmed by the International Coral Reef Initiative and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows alarming signs of persistence.

As of March 2025, a staggering 84% of reef areas across the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans have experienced intense heat stress, making it the most extensive bleaching event on record.

Last year was the hottest on record and the first to reach over 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times, contributing to unprecedented ocean temperatures and triple the previous record number of marine heatwaves around the world.

“The magnitude and extent of the heat stress is shocking,” said Melanie McField, a marine scientist working in the Caribbean. “Some reefs that had thus far escaped major heat stress and we thought to be somewhat resilient, succumbed to partial mortalities in 2024.”

“Bleaching is always eerie – as if a silent snowfall has descended on the reef,” she added.

Previous events in 1998, 2010, and 2014-17 saw 21%, 37% and 68% of reefs subjected to bleaching-level heat stress respectively.

Marine biologists had warned early last year the world’s reefs were on the verge of a mass bleaching following months of record-breaking ocean heat fuelled by human-induced climate change and the El Nino climate pattern, which yields unusually warm ocean temperatures along the equator and in the Pacific.

In December 2024, a weak La Nina pattern, which typically brings cooler ocean temperatures, gave scientists hope that corals might recover, but it only lasted three months.

Instead, the bleaching has continued to spread, said the NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello. The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea were recently added to the list of 82 countries and territories registering bleaching-level heat stress in their waters.

It will take scientists years to understand the global extent of coral reef death, but they say they have already observed widespread mortality in parts of the Caribbean, Red Sea, and along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

After decades spent pruning thorny bushes and working arduous harvests, Khalaf Allah al-Talhi has perfected the art of capturing the fragrant aroma of the desert rose in a bottle.

“I love roses and take care of them more than I care for my own children,” the 80-year-old told AFP from his flower farm in western Saudi Arabia’s Taif.

Known as “the city of roses”, the hills of Taif produce around 300 million of the area’s signature pink roses annually at 800 flower farms.

By his own estimates, Talhi grows around five to six million of those.

The arrival of spring’s mild climate is met with the blooming of roses that carpet the vast, rolling desert landscapes with vibrant shades of pink.

The blooms are then hand-picked from daybreak to late in the evening by an army of labourers.

The petals are soaked and boiled for hours in vats, where the rose’s scent is extracted through an intricate process capturing the steam that is then distilled into aromatic oil.

The flowers have long been used to make rose water to wash the walls of the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and perfumes made from Taif roses are popular with pilgrims visiting the kingdom.

‘Many rose lovers’

“The quantity of Taif roses is small, so only limited amounts are exported because it’s not enough to meet local demand. Here in Saudi Arabia, we have many rose lovers who only prefer rose perfume,” Talhi said.

A modest quantity of oil is exported to craft perfumes or to be added to cosmetic products such as moisturisers and soaps.

According to the economic database TrendEconomy, Saudi Arabia in 2023 exported just $141 million worth of perfume products, which includes rosewater.

At harvest time, workers on Talhi’s farm pick tens of thousands of flowers daily.

“We were born on farms and have always worked in agriculture,” said Talhi, wearing a white robe and a red checkered headscarf.

But now the greater frequency of erratic weather — including searing summer heat, frigid winters and unexpected flooding — presents a potent threat to Taif’s famed roses.

‘My soul’

Climate scientists have issued regular warnings that every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.

Saudi Arabia, with its arid climate and vast deserts, is particularly vulnerable.

“Climate change accelerates soil degradation in processes such as salinisation, erosion, and desertification, which diminishes the quality and productivity of arable land in Saudi Arabia,” read a report published by the Atlantic Council.

The think tank estimated that wheat yields were expected to decline by 20 to 30 percent by 2050 in Saudi Arabia because of heat stress and not enough irrigation water, while reductions are also expected for date palms and other staple crops.

The weather in the deserts around Taif has been no exception, according to Talhi.

“Last year and the year before, it was extremely cold. Some farmers didn’t harvest a single flower from their fields.”

Thankfully, this season has been more forgiving.

“There are weather changes, but this year the conditions have been very mild,” he said.

While the weather may now be less reliable, Talhi himself has proven to be a source of stability.

Despite his advancing years, the octogenarian rises every day before sunrise to work the fields alongside his staff, and he often labours away until late into the night.

“This farm is my soul and beating heart,” he told AFP.

“God willing, nothing will separate me from it, except death.”

JAIPUR: The United States wants to sell more energy and defence equipment to India to build closer ties, Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly as talks over a trade deal progress.

Visiting the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Vance hailed what he called India’s vitality over the “sameness and flatness” of some Western nations. His remarks followed criticism by US President Donald Trump of steep Indian tariffs on cars, farm goods and other products.

The rebalancing of global trade because of Trump’s tariff actions is “going to produce great benefits for the people of India,” Vance said.

India is trying to position itself as a manufacturing base of choice for the world as China faces high US duties.

“If India and the United States work together successfully, we’re going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful,” Vance told an audience of a few hundred students, traders, government officials and politicians in Jaipur.

“But I also believe that if we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity.”

He said it would be natural for India to buy more defence equipment from the United States, including Lockheed Martin’s LMT.N F-35 fighter jets, as the two countries do regular military exercises.

“We, of course, want to collaborate more,” he said. “We want to work together more, and we want your nation to buy more of our military equipment.”

He said the U.S. wanted to sell more energy to India and also help it explore its own resources, including offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies. Nuclear energy is also an important area of focus for both sides.

‘Special person’

Vance is on a mostly personal, four-day visit to India along with his wife, who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and their three children.

India is seeking an early trade deal with the US – its largest trading partner – before the end of a 90-day pause on the steep tariffs announced by Trump’s administration.

“Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator. He drives a hard bargain,” Vance said to laughter from the audience.

India, the world’s fastest-growing big economy, hopes to “positively conclude” the first part of a trade pact by autumn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in San Francisco on Monday.

Vance said he and Modi, who hosted Vance’s family for dinner at his home on Monday, had made good progress on trade talks and confirmed that the two sides had finalised the terms of reference for the trade negotiation.

“It sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations,” he said.

Vance has criticised some foreign leaders but was effusive in his praise for Modi, who went to see Vance’s family on the birthday of Vance’s second son while both leaders were in France for an AI conference in February.

“I think he’s a special person,” Vance said. “In the past, Washington approached Prime Minister Modi with an attitude of prejudice or even one of condescension. And, as I told Prime Minister Modi last night, he’s got approval ratings that would make me jealous.”