New Delhi: The last visit from the Biden administration leaves India with a lot to think about and, certainly, a lot to prepare for as Donald Trump prepares to take presidential office.
The Washington Post describes US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s Monday visit to New Delhi—his last overseas visit in his current role—as the “last hurrah” for a bilateral relationship he “worked hard to cement”.
It was the end of one chapter of the US-Indian relationship and the start of a new one with the incoming Trump administration, says the report, titled ‘After a last visit from Biden’s team, India readies itself for Trump.’
India has reason to be optimistic about this new chapter. Both Modi and Trump share a “high-profile bond and a disdain for Islamist terrorism, the media and criticism over democratic backsliding”, Karishma Mehrotra reports for the Post.
The article lists the areas both countries are expected to work on during Trump’s second term. At the top of the list is India’s protectionist attitude, which Trump has repeatedly denounced in the past. The possibility of a trade war cannot be ruled out, it says, adding that India could counter any new tariffs in equal measure. India should also be prepared for asks related to entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Tesla and Starlink, the article says.
On the agenda are also the two recently unsealed indictments in the US—one from 2023 alleging India’s involvement in a murder-for-hire plot on US soil and the 2024 indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani on fraud-related charges.
“India hopes the Trump administration will do what it can to soften the blows in both, according to analysts. Perhaps with that in mind, Adani promised to invest $10 billion in the United States after Trump’s win,” the Post reports.
A consensus on China will also be high on the priority list. The US has long seen India as a counter to Chinese influence in the region, a role India has stepped into and will likely spearhead as it hosts the Quad meeting later this year.
The recent thaw in India-China relations could have come about “because of China’s anticipation of a Trump win”, the article speculates. Trump, it says, could pull a wild card and try to improve his relationship with the Chinese, especially with Musk’s influence in the White House. It highlights that “Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration, while he hasn’t invited (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi”.
Immigration will likely also be a big issue. While Indians make up a big portion of the H-1B programme for high-skilled immigrants, publicly supported by Musk and Trump, they also make up the largest group of unauthorised immigrants in the US, outside of Latin Americans, making them a target of Trump’s hard line on illegal immigration.
The last issue, the Post reports, could be regarding Bangladesh. “India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party publicly blamed the U.S. State Department and the ‘deep state’ for conspiring against India, in a veiled response to both the indictments and the events in Bangladesh,” the article says. It shows that there’s still some suspicion over where loyalties lie.
The Guardian reports on how Musk’s satellite-based Starlink is being used by militant groups in conflict-wracked Manipur.
While Starlink isn’t yet allowed to legally operate in India—though that could change if one follows The Washington Post’s report—it’s legal in Myanmar, which borders Manipur. Militant groups are now using it to circumvent government internet shutdowns, Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen report for The Guardian.
“One leader from the Meitei separatist militant group, the People’s Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA), said that Starlink devices had been used by the group to access the internet inside Manipur when it had been cut by the authorities during flare-ups of violence,” they report in ‘Smuggled Starlink devices allegedly used to defy India’s internet shutdowns.’
“The PLA source said the Starlink device had initially been used by the group in Myanmar but then members had realised it also functioned over the border in Manipur.”
While Musk has publicly said that he hopes to bring Starlink to India, telecommunication is one of the country’s most strictly regulated industries. Experts have warned that Starlink could pose a security threat or be used to get around internet shutdowns, “which have become a regular mechanism of control by the Indian government and resulted in India having the highest number of internet shutdowns for the past seven years” the report says.
Sources in the security establishment also confirmed to The Guardian that Starlink works in Manipur, especially in areas closer to the Myanmar border. However, at least four militant groups—two Kuki groups and one Meitei group—denied that they were using Starlink to access the internet.
Meanwhile, a Forbes column, ‘India’s Economic Growth Depends On Fixing Higher Education,’ says that while India is celebrating surpassing China to become Asia’s top market for IPOs, it asks if “the country’s higher education system sustain this momentum?”
“On paper, the nation’s higher education system looks formidable,” writes author and educationist Benjamin Laker. Over 56,000 institutions cater to nearly 40 million students and supported by 1.5 million faculty members.
“But size tells only part of the story. Beneath the surface lies a paradox. While the sector has grown in scale, quality remains uneven and research output lags behind global standards—an issue highlighted in analyses by EY and The MIT Press,” he says.
The gaps in talent supply and institutional capacity also need to be seen within the context of India’s recent economic performance. Its “dominance in IPO fundraising in 2024 wasn’t a fluke,” but was a result of long-term economic recalibration, especially with the growth of companies like Swiggy, Zomato, and Ola.
“But behind these glittering financial victories lies a less-talked-about concern: talent. As industries scale, they need leaders, engineers, researchers and strategists. The Indian economy, now the world’s fifth-largest, cannot rely on a handful of elite institutions like the IITs and IIMs to churn out the workforce of the future. It requires systemic reform—an overhaul of teaching practices, research funding and industry alignment across thousands of smaller institutions,” Laker writes.
India’s higher education system is now at a “strategic inflection point”.
“In essence, India’s educational strategy must evolve in lockstep with its economic ambitions to ensure sustainable growth and global competitiveness. After all, the nation’s success depends not just on policy intent but on execution that aligns vision, resources and institutional culture with innovation, agility and long-term strategic clarity,” says Laker.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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