India-US trade deal and Karnataka’s plan to bring back student elections | South Central Episode 60

Hosts discuss the India-US trade deal and the recently announced reduction in tariffs. They also delve into the ban on student elections in Karnataka and the Congress government’s proposal to bring it back.

Published on:

06 Feb 2026, 1:20 pm

In the first session, hosts Pooja Prasanna and Anisha Sheth discuss the India-US trade deal and the recently announced reduction in tariffs. They are joined by senior journalists Smita Sharma and TK Arun.

Pooja recalls how the announcements on the tariffs were made, asking if the swift manner says something.

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“The deal, on the face of it, definitely looks like it gives our manufacturing sector a breather by giving a tariff reduction. But the details are yet to be known. We do need to recognise that we are dealing with someone like Donald Trump, who behaves like an imperial monarch, and does not seem to believe in process or fair business. Clearly, the rules of the game do not apply. However, it looks like India, too, is quite okay with this, considering the Union government’s brazen disregard for processes. Questions must be asked about why protocols were not followed. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told the media that final negotiations are on, and this was not the process earlier. If the deal is not final, why this early celebration?” asks Smita.

TK Arun says that Trump is a man who likes to throw around numbers. “These numbers are likely to impress local voters. The main importance is the signal that the rift between India and the US has healed for the time being. It is, at the same time, wrong to presume that the Indian government will prioritise the needs of the farmers. As far as Russian oil is concerned, we cannot afford to alienate Russians. Even today, we source some of our military equipment from Russia and collaborate on manufacturing. We should not jump to conclusions just because this has been announced in the absence of the fine print,” he adds.

Pooja asks what Trump’s announcement on India discontinuing oil purchase from Russia really means, as far as we understand now.

“We are not the largest buyers of Russian oil. The real issue, I think, is India’s refusal to acknowledge Trump as the one who stopped an India-Pakistan nuclear war,” Arun says.

Pooja asks what led up to the break in negotiations, and whether we ended up conceding sovereignty.

“So far, it is not like Russian oil was sanctioned. India was buying oil from Russia within a cap. On the sovereignty aspect, we really need to wait for the fine print. I would like to believe that when Piyush Goyal says sensitive sectors of the country will be protected, we need to remember that Trump has a history of flouting agreements,” Smita points out.

Pooja asks what would happen to other sectors, like tech or agriculture, and how that would shake up our economy.

“We import tech from the US, and as far as servers are concerned, many of them come from the US. As for agriculture, some items are short. Oilseeds, oil, corn, soybeans, etc., are imported. If these are provided at better deals, why should we not buy from the US?” Arun says.

The panel further goes into how governments before Modi have handled international trade, and how Trump’s world order has changed things for us.

In the second part of the discussion, the hosts delve into the ban on student elections in Karnataka and the Congress government’s proposal to bring it back. They are joined by Professor Muralidhar PS of the Bangalore University, President of the Teacher’s union.

Anisha recalls how DK Shivakumar formed the panel to revise the ban on student elections last year. “The panel has only party leaders, and they are looking at whether elections can be started. But the Supreme Court’s Lyngdoh Committee has already conducted broad consultations and put together why and how student elections help to foster campus democracy. The Committee has also reflected on the conduct of elections, violence and so on,” she says.

Pooja reminds how campus violence has been a major factor brought up to argue against campus elections.

“Of course, you can say violence and student elections are politicised, but the violence hasn't escalated as such. People do get into fights and arguments, but that is a part of student life and active participation,” Muralidhar says.

Pooja notes how violence is seen prior to elections in most states and how that cannot be a reason enough to ban the whole process. Anisha adds that private college students reach out regularly about how authoritarian college authorities have become. “Universities and teachers have so much power over these students that many of them back off after a point, because their internal marks, attendance and many other factors rest at the discretion of teachers and university authorities. Students have been talking, but nobody has been listening to them,” she says.

Muralidhar observes that whenever there have been elections, they are conducted within universities, and private institute students never had any representation. “Representation for students from affiliated colleges and within university departments should be there. The Academic Council must have representation from across the student community. When students elect their own leaders, and such leaders are in the Council, students will have a say in how matters are run. They will get more bargaining power,” he adds.

All this and more.

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Audio Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:04:26 - Headlines

00:16:40- India-US Tariff

1:05:32 - Campus Politics Returns?

1:29:22 - Recommendations

References

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