“Trade” over “War”
After the recent geopolitical escalation between India and Pakistan, the president of the United States (POTUS), Donald J. Trump, has become one of the most hated personalities amongst Indian households. His babbling about facilitating a truce between two neighbors, offering trade deals as incentive, may not have gone well with most Indians; even though the Indian government has officially denied any role of the POTUS and his administration in negotiation with Pakistan. This is perhaps one of the reasons the market discourse has mostly ignored “the strategic economic partnership” signed between U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, last week. In my view, this renewed strength in the Arab-US relations is very significant, not only for the US economy, but also for a much wider global economic context. Although, it might be speculative on my part, nonetheless I believe that this “strategic economic partnership” deal could potentially result in— (...