The Editorial Page: With tariff cloud lifting, India-US can shape balance of power in Asia & world 8 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , kO L k ATA , L U C k N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 DAy AFTER U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCED TRADE DEAL, TARIFF CUT FROM 50% TO 18% Farmers secure, agriculture and dairy interests protected: Goyal $100-bn imports a year for 5 yrs: Agri goods, energy, aircraft parts & tech from US to India Says deal better than what India competitors got; USTR: exciting opportunity Ravi Dutta Mishra & Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, February 3 AMID CONCERNS that India has agreed to cut tariffs for agri goods and committed to buy more of these from the US, whichmayhurtfarmers,Union Commerce and Industry MinisterPiyushGoyalsaidTuesday that the interests of sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy have been fully protected in the India-US trade deal. US President Donald TrumphadonMondayslashed tariffs on India from 50% to 18%, the lowest among most emerging economies and New Delhi’s competitors. While Trump said India has committed to buying American goods including agricultural products at a “higher level”, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollinssaidthedealwillseethe USexport“morefarmproducts to India’s market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural Ravi Dutta Mishra & Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, February 3 Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal addresses the media on Tuesday. PTI Business as Usual By EP UNNY INDIA IS committed to purchasing $100 billion worth of US products annually for five years, which will largely include aircraft, technology items, precious metals, oil, nuclear products and agricultural goods, The Indian Express has learnt. This is over twice last year’s imports. In FY25, India imported $45.62 billion worth of American goods, while exports to the US stood at $86.51 billion. Under the trade deal announced Monday, Washington loweredtariffsonIndia to 18% from 50% imposed in August 2005, and US President Donald Trump said India will E. 136 168 Liz Mathew New Delhi, February 3 America.” In an interview, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India has agreed to cut tariffs across goods »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the NDA parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. ANI ‘Compromised’: Rahul targets PM; Chair suspends 8 Opp MPs for rest of session 73 Happening today lTHE SUPREME Court will hear lTHE RBI’S rate-setting panel will start its three-day brainstorming for the next bi-monthly monetary policy. The decision will be announced Friday. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm The wings scraped each other during taxiing. EXPRESS AirIndia,IndiGo aircraftwings scrapeeachother atMumbaiairport; nooneinjured Sabah Virani a plea filed by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. lFIVE-TIME CHAMPIONS India, led by Ayush Mhatre, face Afghanistan in the semifinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup. Mumbai, February 3 Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Hibi Eden, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and others at the Parliament complex on Tuesday. PTI Manoj C G & Harikishan Sharma New Delhi, February 3 THE STANDOFF between the Opposition and the governmentintensifiedonTuesdayas Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he was not allowed to quote from or speak about former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir and eight Opposition MPs were suspended fortheremainderoftheBudget »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WINGS ofanAirIndiaaircraft and an IndiGo plane scraped against each other whiletaxiingattheChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International AirportinMumbaionTuesday. No passengers were injured in the incident, and both aircraft were taken out of service for inspection. Officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reached the site soon after the incident. Air India flight AI2732 was »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l NOT THE FIRST TIME; COURT PROCEEDINGS HAD COME TO STANDSTILL FOR SAME REASON EARLIER TOO Built for adivasi justice, Maharashtra court had no judge — till SC noticed PAGE 1 ThE BIG PICTURE anchor Sadaf Modak Bail Diaries Mumbai, February 3 WHEN THE lawyer of Surendra Gadling, a co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, told the Supreme Court on January 21 that a 2016 trial against him over arson allegations had not yet started, for the irregular presence of a judge and a permanentprosecutorinthecourt concerned, it showed how an idea conceived to bring justice to closer to adivasi communities in Maoist-hit Gadchiroli has been hit. Gadling faces allegations of conspiracy in the burning of 76 Quotaaccesshasbeengiven in cotton, pulses, chestnuts, onion among a range of other items,sourcessaid,addingthat Delhi has given market access toproducts,suchasapples,that are already open for other countries. India had given market access to apples to New Zealand »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS, PAGES 13, 15 World is tilting towards India, says PM as NDA hails ‘historic’ trade pacts GOVT-OPP STANDOFF DEEPENS 108 buy over $500-billion worth of American energy, technology, agriculturalproducts,andcoal, among other products. Sources said while Indiahasopeneditsagriculture sector to a wide category of products, it has maintained protection on genetically modified (GM) products, soya meal, poultry, maize, cereals, and corn. JAYPRAkASH S NAIDU (Left) The District and Additional Sessions Court in Aheri. (Right) Surendra Gadling. vehicles carrying iron ore from the Surjagarh mines on December25,2016.Hislawyersaid his discharge application had been pending at the one-judge DistrictandAdditionalSessions Court in Aheri since 2022 as it didnothaveajudgeatthetime, or a permanent prosecutor. Followingthis,theSupreme Court directed that the Registrar General of the Bombay HighCourttakestepsfor“...the regular posting of a competent judge…withinaperiodofseven days”. It was only after this hearing that the vacancy was filled. Two days later, a judge Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case: 16 accused: 1 dead, 1 in custody, 14 out on bail PAGE 11 was appointed. While officials said the process to appoint a judge had already been underway, and that these take time given the sensitivity of the post, it meant 22 daysinJanuarywhenthecourt had no judge (between 1st and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ADAYaftertheannouncement of a trade deal with the US followingmonthsofnegotiations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDA MPs Tuesday that India is at the global centrestage, shaping the new order and “the world is tilting towards India”. Speakingatameetingofthe NDA parliamentary party, Modi, according to an MP present there, referred to India’s trade deal with the US days afterapactwiththeEU,anddescribed it as a “big decision that will benefit a large section of people in the country”. Hailing the India-EU trade dealasthe“motherofalldeals”, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Yumnam Khemchand Singh set to be Manipur CM; Kuki-Zo, Naga MLAs may be Dy CMs Sukrita Baruah & Jatin Anand Guwahati, New Delhi, February 2 AFTER WEEKS of deliberations, the BJP on Tuesday elected 62-year-old Yumnam Khemchand Singh as the leader of the Manipur legislature party, paving the way for government formation and for Singh to take over as the next Chief Minister. Manipur was put under President’s Rule last year, days after N Biren Singh resigned as CM of the state, which had been roiled by eth- Manipur’s former CM N Biren Singh (right) with Yumnam Khemchand Singh (second left) in New Delhi Tuesday. ANI nic violence since May 2023. The decision was taken at a meetinghelmedbyBirenSingh »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2