50% tariff.
Plastered on India.
We didn't blink.
EU protested.
Japan negotiated.
China retaliated.
India?
Calm.
No panic.
No midnight flights to
Washington.
No "urgent bilaterals".
Why?
Modi's ego?
Blind nationalism?
Or...something darker?
A game running 11 years deep.
May 2014.
South Block.
First briefing.
NSA Ajit Doval leans in.
"Sir....if India wants great-power
status....
expect US heat.
Trade. Tech. Oil.
Our enemy isn't China.
It's dependency.
Tariffs.
Sanctions.
Dollar chokeholds.
Defence strings".
The room went still.
"Solution?" Modi asked.
Doval: "Decouple risk.
Build leverage.
Not anti-US....pro-India.
Bring Gulf and Africa closer.
Build buffers.
Own our seas.
Weaponize our market".
The plan lit.
And it burned for a decade.
18+ Hours Work
2014
Make in India launched.
First hooks in the wall.
2015
Qatar LNG renegotiation.
Long-term energy locks.
2016-17
UPI goes live.
GST knits the market.
Payment diplomacy is born.
2018
Iran sanctions teach fuel-finance
fortification
Whiteboards fill with sanction-
resilience drills.
2019
National Electronics Policy
Stop just assembling.
Start owning components.
2020
PLI tsunami : Rs.1.97 lakh crore.
Across 13+sectors
Rafaels touch tarmac.
2021
Strategic Petroleum Reserves
expansion.
Quiet, boring. Vital.
2022
INS Vikrant sails.
UAE CEPA.
Australia ECTA.
2023
UPI - PayNow link.
Rupee trade corridors multiply.
Dollar choke-points lose bite.
2024
MIRV Agni-V test.
20-year Qatar LNG.
Chabahar Port deal.
2025
Services exports $387.5B
US slaps +25% tariff over
Russian oil.
Impact?
Not existential.
RBI loosens SRVA rules.
Oil mix rebalanced.
Market weapon ready.
This wasn't ego.
It was armour.
In 2013
GDP: $1.86 trillion
2025: $4.19 trillion
We're 4th-largest economy.
$17.65 trillion PPP.
GDP per capita rose,
~$1.45K to ~$2.9K.
PPP $11,938 by 2025.
Growth stands at 6-8%,
Making us the fastest major
economy.
FDI?
We went from shaky reformer to
global darling
$300 billion inflows since 2014,
$81 billion in FY25 alone.
Poverty halved;
Macro stabilized;
Market confidence sky high.
I know it was Painful Journey.
We ended up Paying High Taxes.
But it was for this moment.
And yes,
It makes America uncomfortable.
Because here...
the Viceroy's chair is empty.
Because here
puppets have no strings....
Tariffs?
They clang against armour, not
chains.
We sip our chai.
We count our tankers.
We guard our seas.
We fly our own skies.
And our finance?
Not your Colonial charity.
Thank you very much.
No, the garlands won't go to
Modi.
He'll be mocked.
Branded.
Hated.
I've got my own laundry list of
criticisms.
But this phase....
This pain...
This was the Agni in the furnace.
And now,
What will the West do when they
can't bend Bharat?
When the memo and sanctions
don't bite?
Will the next captain keep the
altitude steady?
Or...
Will we trade sovereignty for a
seat at their tea party?
Your move, Sahib....!!!
Courtesy. What'sApp
Tailpiece.
Got up at 5, the chores, sent all the morning messages, switched on the morning hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.
Walked and recited my prayers.
Worked on my laptop.
A quiet day.
Mini informs us, around a quarter past 7 in the evening, that Gopi has passed into the mist of time.
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