This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleague Josh Rogan of the Washington Post about India-U.S.

Relations certainly brittle right now after an exchange of angry words between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, we are told.

The punitive tax said to be put on India imports

is $100 billion a year is 50% says Mr. Trump.

What does this mean for India politics?

For the Congress party looking for an opportunity,

Josh summarizes that unlikely for Congress

to be able to take advantage. However, there is right now a feeling of

uncertainty in Delhi, as there is in Washington, about the next step. 50% is unacceptable. And the U.S.

needs India in its architecture of security in Indo-Pacific. And the U.S. needs India in its architecture of security in Indo-Pacific.

And the U.S. needs that trade, especially the big farmer trade that comes from India.

And there's no workaround.

Who's Josh Rogan?

Much more of this tonight.

They'll surely try to take advantage.

But Modi's aware of that, and he still has the high ground. But if you look at

the who the, who the art trade war is attacking, it's like dairy farmers and people like that. That's

Modi's base. So he's got to defend them, because if he doesn't have a base, he doesn't have anything.

But on the issues of U.S. India relations, it was the Congress Party that started a lot of these initiatives. So it's going to be tough for them to turn around and say we shouldn't be close partners with the United States when that was their position previously. But to the extent that Modi is weak, of course, they'll try to take advantage. And the weaker he is, the less ability has to cave to Trump, which ironically makes the whole situation worse.