- 3 months ago
This broadcast covers international diplomatic developments, starting with the fourteen-point memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran to address the conflict in West Asia. Israel has rejected this framework, refusing to withdraw military forces from southern Lebanon and continuing strikes due to security concerns.
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00:00Good evening, you're watching India First. I'm Gaurav Savant.
00:03U.S. and Iran, they've signed an MOU that lays the path for end to conflict in West Asia,
00:10but it's leading to tensions. Israel is not on board.
00:14In fact, reports just coming in, there have been fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon,
00:19and this is after the signing of the MOU.
00:22There are reports of one death and two injuries,
00:25and this after the draft peace agreement was inked between U.S. and Iran.
00:29Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he's resisting pressure that his forces withdraw from Lebanon.
00:37They've made it very clear there will be no withdrawal from the southern part of Lebanon just as yet.
00:41Reports say that there have been very difficult negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
00:49and the U.S. President Donald Trump.
00:50Some of those conversations are underway even as we speak.
00:54Israel's Prime Minister has told the American President Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon
01:01till the time Hezbollah is completely disarmed or destroyed.
01:06The Benjamin Netanyahu administration maintains that it is not directly bound by clauses relating to Lebanon,
01:14and that's paragraph number one of the U.S.-Iran deal, or the framework of the agreement,
01:20since Israel is not a signatory to this U.S.-Iran understanding.
01:25Now, there's another side story.
01:28Pakistan, which projected itself as the so-called honest broker.
01:33Did Pakistan actually end up selling a lemon to the U.S. President Donald Trump?
01:37A bad deal?
01:38A deal that favors Iran?
01:40Was that passed off?
01:42Asim Muneer indulged in a lot of flattery.
01:45Did Donald Trump fall for that flattery?
01:47That's the big question.
01:48Pakistan, that tries to portray itself as a peacemaker externally, is facing major trouble internally.
01:55From Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir to the trouble it's facing in Khaybar, Pakhtunkwa, Balochistan, Sindh.
02:02Now, Pakistan is losing face.
02:05Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shabazz Sharif, he's just cancelled his visit to Geneva
02:09after the U.S.-Iran framework agreement was actually signed virtually.
02:15So, there is no exchange of documents that will happen in Geneva.
02:20And this is being seen internally in Pakistan as a huge snub for Asim Muneer and Shabazz Sharif.
02:28Because just till a couple of hours ago, not even days, they were claiming that they've been invited to the
02:35signing ceremony of this framework
02:37and they will be right there and they will sign as witnesses to this agreement.
02:43But anyway, let's come back to our main story, our top story.
02:46The tensions between the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the American President, Donald Trump,
02:52on this peace deal, have Israeli interests been ignored?
02:59In fact, has Israel actually been thrown under the bus?
03:01Was the United States actually trying to cut its losses and come out of fear?
03:06Why is Israel not accepting this MOU in the manner in which it's been submitted?
03:13Is this because Israel's main concerns about ballistic missiles, the range of ballistic missiles that haven't been addressed?
03:21In fact, President Trump actually twisted the knife in when he said,
03:25why should Iran not have the right to have ballistic missiles in case Qatar and Saudi Arabia have ballistic missiles?
03:33He then went on to say, in a separate context, that he's asked Bibi, or Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,
03:41to go easy on Lebanon.
03:43Just because one Hezbollah man is seen entering a building, you don't have to bring that entire building down.
03:50I spoke to Israel's ambassador to India, Ambassador Reuven Azhar, and asked him if Israel had been thrown under the
03:59bus.
04:00Listen in.
04:08The 14-point MOU, signed between the United States and Iran, has kicked up a huge storm in the United
04:16States of America and in Israel.
04:19It's being called a surrender by the United States of America.
04:24Has Israel been thrown under the bus?
04:27With me on deal and dialogue is Israel's ambassador to India, Ambassador Reuven Azhar.
04:34Ambassador, welcome.
04:36Thank you, sir.
04:37I'm sure you've read the 14-point MOU.
04:41Has Israel been thrown under the bus?
04:43Is this binding on Israel?
04:45I also read the G7 statement, by the way, which also is worth reading.
04:50Israel and the United States have had an amazing military victory, Gaurav, because we have managed to remove the existential
04:58threats on our country.
04:59And the damage to Iran, not only that their leadership, their criminal leadership was removed, but also the damage to
05:07Iran in military terms is worth more than a trillion dollars.
05:10Now, when it comes to diplomacy, we are at the point in which the United States, for its own considerations,
05:15had to do a kind of a diversion that has to do with immediate interest, like, for example, the energy
05:22markets.
05:22So, what we are seeing here is a situation in which the Strait of Hormuz are going to go back
05:32to normal functioning.
05:35Okay.
05:35And the entire diplomatic negotiation was, you know, it's just beginning.
05:42So, that's victory for Iran.
05:44On the 27th of February, before operations started, the Strait of Hormuz was open.
05:48The Strait was normal.
05:51Shipping was normal.
05:53So, Iran has been able to prove it has a chokehold and America surrendered.
06:00Well, at what price?
06:02At the end of the day, this is not something you can use on a permanent basis because all the
06:06countries in the region now and in the world are going to find alternatives for the Strait of Hormuz.
06:12So, the fact that they have been able to use this once, it doesn't mean that necessarily they will be
06:17able to use it in the future.
06:18Everybody understands now how threatening and unreliable Iran is as a partner and as a friend.
06:26Now, yes, they have been, might have been able to leverage that at this point, but it doesn't diminish from
06:33their military defeat, from the fact that Israel now is much safer as a result of this military campaign.
06:41Is Israel safer or more vulnerable?
06:44No.
06:44I want to quote to you, this is para one.
06:48Para one.
06:49It says, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon has to be respected, immediate and permanent termination of military operations on
06:57all fronts, including Lebanon, which means Israel cannot target Lebanon, even though I believe one of your soldiers was killed
07:04just yesterday and five injured.
07:06Well, there is a call for a ceasefire that is not being respected, but there is, unlike what the Iranians
07:12said, there is not a call for withdrawal.
07:15Israel will stay in the, in the south, in Lebanon, until we get guarantees.
07:21And we have actually a peace process going on, a negotiation going on between us and the Lebanese government.
07:28And after the third round of negotiations that ended on the 3rd of June, we have agreed to launch a
07:35pilot program that will see whether the Lebanese army can start taking chunks of the territory free from Hezbollah presence.
07:44So, unless that, that happens, Israel will stay in south Lebanon.
07:48But will not act even if hit.
07:51Isn't that the situation right now?
07:53We will defend ourselves.
07:54And our prime minister has stated that, our defense minister has stated that, that Israel will defend itself if attacked
08:01by Hezbollah.
08:03Right now, the president of the United States, very publicly he said, I told Bibi, go easy, don't bomb them,
08:12just because there's one Hezbollah man entering a building, don't, don't bring the building down.
08:16And, and the kind of words he's used for the Israeli prime minister, saying words to the effect, there is
08:22no Israel without Donald Trump.
08:24There is no Bibi without Donald Trump.
08:27Is that the case?
08:27Well, first of all, there's no doubt that this American president has done for Israel more than any American president,
08:33president in the past.
08:34He has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
08:37He has recognized the, the sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights.
08:42It has transferred the American embassy to Jerusalem.
08:44It has done many, many things.
08:47Okay.
08:48He has done many, many things.
08:50However, on this point, I think that what, what I understand from, uh, what the president is saying is that
08:58right now they won't call.
09:00Okay.
09:00So they would like Israel to be less aggressive.
09:03Now we are ready, as I said, to engage in a diplomatic process, but we will not renounce our right
09:10for self-defense.
09:11And we are going to continue operation in South Lebanon.
09:14And if we are attacked, we are going to retaliate.
09:16So if attacked, you will retaliate.
09:18Absolutely.
09:19So you said, uh, President Donald Trump has done a lot for Israel, including recognition of Jerusalem.
09:25Uh, Mohammed Bagheer Ghalibaf, uh, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, has in the words, if, you know, I'm not
09:31quoting him in verbatim,
09:33but he said words to the effect that liberation of Jerusalem will be the ultimate homage, uh, to the Supreme
09:39Leader.
09:39So has Donald Trump, in a, in, while negotiating with Iran, now thrown Israel under the bus?
09:47Well, you know, Ghalibaf is saying what the, his criminal, so-called Supreme Leader was saying, uh, already for 40
09:54years,
09:55that they want to annihilate the state of Israel and they want to conquer Jerusalem.
09:59So, uh, they cannot receive that in a piece of paper.
10:03However, we have defeated them militarily.
10:06They don't have the possibility to attack us because we have neutralized those threats.
10:10And now the armies of Iran are defeated.
10:15So we are going to invest because we don't underestimate the threats of, uh, of the Iranian theocratic radical regime.
10:25The Prime Minister of Israel has announced a program of investment of more than a hundred billion dollars in security
10:33and defense technology
10:35to safeguard ourselves from future attacks from Iran.
10:38Israel will do whatever it has to do to defend itself.
10:43We appreciate the fact that the United States has been working on us, with us militarily.
10:47Right now, diplomatically, we have gaps, but we share the same interest and the same goal
10:54to make sure that Iran can no longer effectively threaten with annihilation countries in the region
11:01and that, uh, the Strait of Hormuz and the system that actually has been built by the United States under
11:09CENTCOM
11:09will sustain, uh, the capabilities of countries in this region to function despite the Iranian threat.
11:17You will spend one hundred billion dollars.
11:19Do I understand that correctly on your modernization?
11:22Yes.
11:22Iran will be given three hundred billion dollars.
11:25Three hundred billion dollars.
11:26And they will have, look, and they will have to decide, Gaurab, whether to divert this money.
11:33By the way, it's not guaranteed that they will receive this money.
11:37Okay?
11:37It's only after a final deal.
11:40But let's assume that they receive the money.
11:43They will have to decide whether to go and compensate for the one trillion dollars they have lost in this
11:50war
11:50and the needs of their population.
11:53Eighty million people that have been suffering and have been taken hostage by this regime
11:59for the pipe dreams of dominating the region.
12:02So, they are dominating the region after this.
12:05Well, I don't think so.
12:06Are they not?
12:06How?
12:07I, so, okay, so one, one part of the surrender.
12:10The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran
12:18within 30 days of that final deal.
12:21America is withdrawing from West Asia after this war.
12:24What has America achieved?
12:25If we reach, if we reach a final deal in which the threats of Iran will be neutralized,
12:31there's no reason why America should keep all these forces that it's keeping now.
12:35So, the question is now, we are going to have a diplomatic debate, okay,
12:39on the terms of the future of the aspirations of Iran to develop weapons of mass destruction.
12:47If we can verifiably make sure that these threats are neutralized,
12:52then there's no reason to remain in the region with such might.
12:57The challenge for us, and this, in this, I agree with you that these 14 points do not include things
13:06that are very important for us.
13:08For example, the ballistic missiles.
13:10The ballistic missile issue and the support for the proxies.
13:13For us, this is something that is missing.
13:17Of course, we'll continue coordinating with the United States to try to make them rethink about that
13:24and to cooperate with us in order to make sure that these threats are addressed.
13:28Because if they are not addressed, it's a recipe for confrontation in the future.
13:33And as I said, Israel will not hesitate to defend itself by itself.
13:37So, if America were to withdraw its forces in 30 days after that final agreement.
13:43So, the MOU has signed, for the next 60 days, there's a ceasefire in place.
13:47Then another 30 days, all is peaceful.
13:50And then Iran starts building longer range missiles.
13:52And the American president has thrown Israel under the bus by saying,
13:57so, if you, words to the effect, if Saudi Arabia has missiles, if Qatar has missiles, if others have missiles,
14:03it's not fair not to ask Iran to have missiles.
14:06Which means Iran now has the same legitimacy which it lacked in the past 47-odd years
14:11to have the same number or more missiles than Qatar and Saudi Arabia and go and target Israel.
14:16Well, first of all, if you read the G7 statement that includes the United States,
14:22it is written there very specifically that this threat has to be addressed.
14:27Because the difference between Iran and other countries that have ballistic missile industry
14:33is that Iran is threatening other countries with annihilation.
14:39So, when you assess any security threat, you have to take into account
14:44not only what are the means that the country possesses, but what are their intentions.
14:48As long as this regime in Tehran has the intentions of annihilating other countries, including Israel,
14:55this issue will have to be addressed.
14:57And if it's not addressed, then Israel will have to defend itself.
15:01It's not addressed in these 14-point MOU.
15:03Do you agree?
15:04Absolutely.
15:05You agree?
15:06Of course.
15:07So, Israel's interests have been compromised when it comes to Iran having ballistic missiles?
15:11At this point, yes.
15:13Let me now come to the next point on the Strait of Hormuz.
15:17The entire focus was Strait of Hormuz will be free, open, and unimpeded movement of merchant vessels
15:24or all movement of tankers, oil and gas, and other commercial shipping.
15:28Am I right?
15:29Right.
15:30For a period of 60 days.
15:32Beyond 60 days, what happens?
15:35Then people pay Iran to cross.
15:37Nobody is going to pay.
15:38Gaurav, look, this is a pipe dream.
15:41Nobody is going to pay because this is against international law.
15:44And the G7 have been very, very clear about that.
15:48Not only that.
15:49The Chinese have been clear about that.
15:51Okay?
15:51The Russians have been clear.
15:53Nobody is going to agree to pay tolls in a waterway.
15:56If there are services that the Iranians want to grant to anybody that agrees to that, they will give services.
16:03But you don't need any…
16:04Services which were available for free earlier now will have to be paid because, permit me to quote you.
16:09Ambassador, permit me to quote you.
16:11The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime
16:18services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf literal states in line with the applicable international
16:25law and sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.
16:29Okay, and what does international law says?
16:32It says that international waterways have to remain open.
16:38It's like comparing it with a decision of, I don't know, Spain, Britain and Morocco to charge services at the
16:44Straits of Gibraltar.
16:45It's not going to happen.
16:47It's against international law.
16:48So, if countries in the literal states of the Persian Gulf or the Arab Gulf want to grant services, they
16:57can grant services.
16:58It's a voluntary payment for services that maybe you want to have or don't want to have.
17:05But there is no chance.
17:07And it's written there.
17:08You have to understand international law.
17:10It's written there as well.
17:11It has to be according to international law.
17:13And international law is very clear.
17:15Here, no payment for navigation in international waterways.
17:22However, if they're paying for services, it's almost like the mafia.
17:25I mean, I'm not calling Iran a mafia.
17:27I'm just being very clear.
17:28I'm not calling Iran a mafia.
17:29But all I'm saying is you voluntarily pay mafia for safety, right, in your neighborhood.
17:35Hafta Vasuli is what we call it in our country.
17:37That Hafta Vasuli is now legal.
17:39And America said, okay, that's perennial supply of money for Iran.
17:43That's wishful thinking.
17:43So you can have your imagination coordinated with the Iranian imagination.
17:48That's up to you.
17:49But I'm telling you what international law says.
17:52And at the end of the day, look, it's very difficult for this regime to explain to their
17:57people why two months after their so-called supreme leader was liquidated and after they
18:05suffered a terrible blunder to their military, their navy is no longer there, their proxies
18:12are debilitated.
18:13Everything, all what they built with tens and hundreds of billions of dollars investment
18:19has gone lost.
18:21And two or three months after, they have to sell something to their people.
18:25So if you want to take this paper seriously with all these pipe dreams of collecting something,
18:31it's not going to happen.
18:32So Israel is not taking this seriously.
18:34Look, what we are taking seriously is our interest when it comes to the defense of the state of
18:39Israel and the future of the state of Israel.
18:41And we are very serious about the fact that at this point in time, diplomatically, there is no path
18:48that we see to solving the ballistic missile issue, the proxy issues.
18:53And also we have concerns when it comes to the nuclear issue.
18:56OK, so we are not going to change our position on that.
18:58We are, as I told you, we appreciate what the U.S. has done for Israel in many ways, including
19:05in the military sphere.
19:06And we are going to coordinate with the administration the negotiations in the future to try to maximize
19:12the results that we can get out of this effort.
19:16But at the end of the day, if the diplomatic efforts do not satisfy us, we always remain
19:25for ourselves, our right for self-defense.
19:28Para 6, and I'm sure you've read Para 6.
19:30Is Para 6 an absolute surrender by the United States of America, where the U.S. undertakes
19:37with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion
19:45for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
19:50So for 47 years, sanctions are put on Iran.
19:54Iran is choked.
19:55Their economy comes down to some $350-odd billion.
19:58And then $300 billion will be pumped into that economy, plus the $2 million per ship crossing
20:04strait of Hormuz, plus the money that was frozen that will be given to them.
20:08And you believe that?
20:08Iran will be amongst the richest countries in the region, if not the whole world.
20:12First of all, Iran is a very rich country, but their poor leadership hasn't been able
20:16to translate the amazing richness and resources into prosperity, because they have been enslaving
20:24the resources of Iran.
20:26Instead of giving it to the Iranian people, they have built this machinery of destruction
20:30and aggression in the region.
20:31So if they continue with that, they won't enjoy any money, because President Trump said only
20:37yesterday that, first of all, America is going to put not even 10 cents in this, okay?
20:43And this is a voluntary, it's a voluntary issue.
20:48If the Gulf countries are not satisfied, they won't put money.
20:53So at the end of the day, Iran will have to continue relying on its own resources.
20:57And it's up to them whether to come back to their senses.
21:00Gulf countries will pay just not to be bombed.
21:04Yeah, you think so?
21:05Will they not?
21:06They'd rather have economic prosperity.
21:08The Qataris have been doing that.
21:10I agree with you.
21:10They have been surrendering to Iran.
21:12They have been surrendering to radicalism.
21:15They are playing, we think, and here we also disagree with the United States, they are
21:20playing a very negative role when it comes to the spread of radicalism.
21:24And we think that, no doubt, they will surrender to the Iranians.
21:28Okay, they've done it in the past.
21:29But different Gulf countries are going to have different approaches.
21:33And it depends mainly on how they prepare themselves against the Iranian threat.
21:38I think that we have seen during this war that countries like the UAE and others are
21:43building their defenses, are building infrastructure to circumvent the straits.
21:49So permit me a 30-second digression.
21:52The JCPOA that President Trump threw out of the window joined Comprehensive Plan of Action
21:57and he said greenback dollars were filled in suitcases and given to Iran.
22:02Reports in the U.S. seem to indicate that was about $50 billion of frozen funds that
22:07was given to Iran, reports indicate, in JCPOA.
22:11Now $300 billion.
22:13At the first stage.
22:14In the first stage.
22:15Now $300 billion.
22:16I'll tell you what's the difference.
22:17It's very clear.
22:18It's very simple.
22:21A, the JCPOA was giving Iran a promised path to an industrial complex of centrifuges that
22:31would allow them, after the sunset of Iran, 15 and 20 years, to break out to a nuclear
22:38arsenal of maybe 100 or 200 bombs within weeks.
22:42And at that point, only a military option that, you know, that we don't know whether
22:48it would be possible, would have been able to neutralize that.
22:52So we were against that agreement because not only it has, it has relieved sanctions on
22:58Iran, but it's given an assured path to a nuclear arsenal.
23:02Okay.
23:03Now we are in a completely different situation.
23:05First of all, there is a credible military threat because Iran has paid a price for the
23:13refusal to cooperate with the international community.
23:16They have paid a trillion dollars for that.
23:19Okay.
23:19The leader was killed.
23:22Their military brass were killed.
23:23Their armies were destroyed.
23:26Now, in the future-
23:27In the future, there'll be another generation of leaders who'll come up, who may be more
23:30radical than the earlier ones.
23:32And the enriched uranium remains in Iran.
23:35It'll be downblended in Iran.
23:37I must debate the issue of more radicals.
23:39Look, they have been swearing to annihilate Israel from day one.
23:43Yes.
23:43Calling death to America and death to Israel.
23:45So that hasn't changed.
23:47What has changed is the fact that now they pay the price for the first time.
23:52Okay.
23:53And they will have to reconsider if they decide to re-engage and waste another trillion dollars
23:58in this.
23:59Okay.
24:00We'll have to deal with it.
24:01Now, we have to try to maximize the diplomatic means that we have at our disposal.
24:09We hope, I do confess that there are differences at this point between Israel and the United
24:15States when it comes to the diplomatic path.
24:17We'll have to settle it with the United States and try to maximize our interest.
24:21Is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isolated?
24:25Because he's facing tremendous criticism even within the country, and not just from the opposition,
24:29but even from his allies, that diplomatically you've lost a lot.
24:33Look, there's no doubt that when it comes to these festivities in Versailles and the international
24:39community gathering around these 14 points, that some of our interests were left out.
24:48There's no doubt about that.
24:50However, Israel stands ready to defend its interests.
24:56Even without the United States.
24:58It's in the eyes of the Israeli public, you know, there is appreciation for leaders that
25:03serve the interests of the state, do not surrender to interests of others.
25:08So we will have, look, this is not the first time.
25:11So I might do understand you're saying Benjamin Netanyahu will not surrender to the interests
25:15of Donald Trump.
25:16Is that what you're saying?
25:17When it comes to issues of national security of Israel, our Prime Minister will never surrender
25:21to compromise them.
25:22OK, so we will have to work out our differences, and I hope we'll succeed.
25:28For a moment, I want to now talk about that so-called honest broker, Asim Munir.
25:35Did Asim Munir, like a used car salesman, sell an old car or a lemon to Donald Trump,
25:43claiming it's a great deal, the way car salesmen do?
25:47Well, look, I told you from the beginning in our interviews that we don't trust Pakistan.
25:51We don't trust Qatar either.
25:52I think that what they, their role as mediators was not impartial.
26:00I think that they were pushing very hard to serve the Iranian interests.
26:04And at the end of the day, for reasons that have to do with the United States administration,
26:09they decided to sign off to this paper.
26:13We, of course, have our differences with that.
26:17We don't think that these players are constructive players, and we'll see in the future how that evolves.
26:23So has Asim Munir in, you know, he resorted to flattery, he praised Donald Trump to high heavens,
26:30and then sold him a deal which favors Iran completely, and not, he has predicted Iranian interests
26:37and not American interests.
26:38Is that your reading?
26:39Well, first of all, I think that the interests that he promoted are the interests of his own country,
26:46not the interests of Iran, not the interests of America.
26:50And when it comes to the American agreement to sign off on the paper,
26:54it comes from reasons that have to do with the United States at this point.
26:58So, as I said, look, we have a common vision with the United States when it comes to the nature
27:04of the threat,
27:04and that's the reason we took, historically, military action together.
27:09When it comes to the diplomatic path, there are differences now, there are very clear differences,
27:15that we have the challenge to try to sort them out.
27:18They derive from different interests at this moment in time.
27:24But it doesn't mean that they're not bridgeable, because we agree on the nature of the threat.
27:30What do you make of criticism of President Trump, even in the United States,
27:34and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel?
27:36I also want to quote to you, Para 10.
27:38Para 10 says U.S. Treasury will work on, until the termination of all sanctions,
27:45issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, derivatives,
27:50in banking transactions, insurance, transportation.
27:54Everything that had been put in place to keep curbs on Iran has been, you know, Iran has been unfettered.
28:01And is that a threat to Israel?
28:02Well, I think you are over-reading what is written, because it doesn't...
28:06Quoted in verbatim.
28:07Yeah, yeah, but it doesn't, the paper doesn't actually mention
28:13when and at what degree, during the interim period,
28:16the United States is going to relieve, and how much they're going to relieve.
28:20So this remains to be seen.
28:22It's very unclear from the paper.
28:24It's very vague.
28:25Okay.
28:25And what is clear, that until there is no final agreement,
28:29there will not be a substantial relief of sanctions.
28:32And therefore, I think you can, look, if you want to be, you have wishful thinking,
28:38you can read this paper and draw conclusions that are not realistic.
28:43I think that, I'm not trying to defend that, because as I said,
28:46for us, this fails to cover issues that are important for us.
28:50But, you know, just to pound it in order to be able to brag
28:57that America is kind of defeated or anything like that,
29:04I think it's an exaggeration.
29:05At the end of the day, what we have right now is a situation,
29:10as I told you, that the balance of power militarily has shifted in our favor,
29:13that the United States has still massive presence in the region,
29:18that we have a ceasefire for 60 days that might not last.
29:23Okay.
29:24And therefore, we have to be more cautious when we draw conclusions.
29:27Fair enough.
29:28I will let that be the last word.
29:30You're confident that the people of Israel are more secure today
29:34than they were on the 27th of February.
29:36Is that your reading?
29:38Absolutely.
29:39What happens across the region?
29:41And, of course, world trade.
29:43We'll be tracking that story very, very closely.
29:44Ambassador, for joining me here on this India Today special broadcast.
29:48Many thanks.
29:49Namaste.
29:49Namaste.
29:51US President Donald Trump has shared
29:53the India Today magazine's January 19, 2026 cover
29:58on his Truth Social account once again.
30:01And this, just a day after his bilateral meeting
30:05with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
30:06on the sidelines of G7 summit in France.
30:10The cover, titled The Mover and the Shaker,
30:14features both Prime Minister Narendra Modi
30:16and the US President Donald Trump.
30:18But this isn't the first time that India Today's cover
30:21has caught the attention of either US President Donald Trump
30:25or the US administration.
30:28On the 2nd of February,
30:30just hours after his telephone conversation
30:32with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
30:34the US President shared the same India Today cover.
30:37And within hours, Trump unveiled the framework
30:41for a trade agreement with India
30:44that lowered reciprocal tariff from 25% to 18%.
30:49And then came May 24.
30:51The US government's official website
30:53shared India Today's exclusive interview
30:55with Secretary of State Marco Rubio
30:57conducted by our colleague Rohit Shah.
31:00Within hours, Donald Trump delivered a special message
31:03for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India
31:05during celebrations marking America's 250th Independence Anniversary.
31:12The US President described Prime Minister Narendra Modi
31:15as a friend and declared
31:16that ties between the two countries
31:18had never been closer.
31:20A message seen as an attempt to rebuild the relationship.
31:24And now, President Trump reposted that India Today cover.
31:29And once again, it comes immediately after
31:31a significant meeting between the heads of state and government.
31:36The timing is interesting.
31:37Particularly because the two leaders
31:39during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of G7 summit
31:42discussed expanding economic cooperation.
31:45They indicated that a trade deal
31:47could be nearing completion soon.
31:50Donald Trump, he praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
31:53called him a cool, calm, a killer, great negotiator
31:59and like an angel.
32:02I want to quickly cut across and bring in
32:04Raj Shingappa, Group Editorial Director
32:06of India Today magazine, into this conversation.
32:09Raj, welcome.
32:11So, Donald Trump sharing this India Today cover,
32:14the mover and the shaker once again.
32:17Last time he did that,
32:18there was a major announcement
32:20about the trade deal framework.
32:23Is he sending out another message this time?
32:27Actually, of course, it's a lovely surprise
32:29to see it all over again and the president retweeting it.
32:33But you can never predict what President Trump really wants to say.
32:39But I think the occasion was important.
32:42There were issues, though the fact that you did have Marco Rubio come in
32:48and do a reset of sorts in the relations.
32:51There are, of course, concerns that have been there in the relationship,
32:55despite the close relationships we have with the U.S.
32:58There have been issues of setting the trade deal,
33:00because that also went in a bit of a limbo after the Supreme Court decision
33:05to revoke the earlier trade tariffs that Donald Trump had imposed,
33:09including what he had given us, 18 percent.
33:12And everything was made to 10 percent across the board.
33:16So that is being renegotiated now.
33:19And so that remains unsettled.
33:21Then if you look at the entire issue of the migrant labor going to the U.S.
33:30and the fact they imposed very, very high costs on H-1B visas
33:33was a matter of great concern for us.
33:36Also, we saw that Donald Trump was giving a lot of emphasis,
33:40which is quite rightly for America, to do business with China.
33:43But was it going to be at the cost of India?
33:46And were the traditional leverages or the levers or, let's say, pivot that was there,
33:52that, you know, in some senses we were a counterbalance to China,
33:55is that diminishing?
33:56So there were a lot of concerns that were there.
33:58Yeah, Michael Rubio came and spent several days
34:01and certainly showed that the Americans are interested
34:05in continuing to have good relations with us.
34:07But I think let us also be clear that much of this relationship,
34:12apart from trade and, you know, migration issues,
34:15does rest a lot on Pentagon and issues of critical importance to us,
34:21like rare earth minerals and the pack silica that we have.
34:26And so those relations continue to be very strong, Pentagon and State Department.
34:32So, you know, since you mentioned China, since you mentioned that pivot to Asia
34:36from the times of Barack Obama and then every U.S. administration
34:40from pivot to Asia to India to PACOM becoming Indo-PACOM
34:46and once again now the U.S. Pacific Command,
34:49what are those signals, engagement with China, engagement with the terror state?
34:54The relationship, it went on a high during the first Trump era,
34:58remained high initially when the Prime Minister traveled to the United States
35:02and then it seemed to nosedive.
35:05You know, quite a rollercoaster, right?
35:07Is an attempt being made now to bring it back on track?
35:11What more needs to be done to bring it back on track, sir?
35:15You know, with Trump, everything is unpredictable.
35:18But certainly what we have done has been a very mature approach.
35:22We have not indulged any slanging matches with the Americans,
35:26despite many provocations to the effect.
35:29And let's not forget the debts that happened on the Hormuz Street,
35:33Hormuz Strait, sorry,
35:35because of the American warships attacking us,
35:39attacking the civilian ships that were there.
35:41A lot of Indian allies were lost.
35:43So for us, there was a lot of tension going on.
35:46Of course, there is relief now that there could be,
35:49this memorandum agreement could bring some respite,
35:52though there's still a lot of tricky issues to be negotiated.
35:56So that, I think, is a plus-plus.
35:59Now we have to see, one,
36:00there is going to be a trade deal that's going to happen,
36:02and a lot of movement is happening on that,
36:05where that sort of settles a bit.
36:07And let's not forget, we have not capitulated to the U.S.,
36:10to whatever the other pressures that are there,
36:12but we have not been confrontational either.
36:14So we have played our cards well.
36:16And I think the president, in retweeting the cover that we had,
36:20was signaling that, look,
36:22despite the fact that he is doing business with other countries,
36:25he is, of course, engaging Pakistan,
36:28which is a tactical move to get them involved in the Iran-Iraq,
36:32I mean, in the Iran war and the settlement of that,
36:36he appreciates India's role,
36:38feels that he has a good rapport with Prime Minister Modi,
36:42and I think he's saying,
36:44okay, just give me a chance,
36:45I've sorted out the big issues,
36:46now I can look at extending relations with India.
36:50I think that's the big message that's coming across.
36:53Very interesting,
36:54because we'll be tracking that story very closely.
36:56Raj, for the moment,
36:58many thanks for joining me here on India First.
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