WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ‘If an artwork fails to make people feel its dissent, it is essentially lifeless’ ahmedabad February 8, 2026 In Delhi, for his first solo show in India, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei SCREEN LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y Kohrra shifts narrative to small-town Punjab’s shadows, as it weaves personal turmoil into a murder probe F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , happening today lUNION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah will chair a high-level security review meeting in Chhattisgarh, which is expected to clear a roadmap for development of Maoist-affected areas. lON DAY 2 Of MEN’S T20 World Cup, Afghanistan will take on New Zealand in Chennai. Afghanistan had reached the semis in the last edition. Match starts 11 am. Track These and more on www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm POlITIcs Page 8 C H A N D I G A R H , 4 IndIan students Injured In russIa knIfe attack INsIDE Page 9 PhotograPher PePIta seth now an IndIan cItIzen j A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P A T N A , P U N E , V A D O D A R A JOINT STATEMENT OUTLINES STEPS fOR fIRST PHASE TO BE SIGNED NEXT MONTH India, US reach interim deal Sensitive sectors safeguarded: Goyal on farm, dairy producers Ravi Dutta Mishra MOVINGCLOSERtoabilateral tradepact,IndiaandtheUSunveiled Saturday a framework for an interim trade agreement to lower tariffs and deepen economic ties after almost a year of negotiations. ThankingUSPresidentDonald Trump for “his personal commitment to robust ties betweenthetwocountries”,Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This framework reflects the growing depth, trust and dynamism of our partnership… will also strengthen resilient and INThEUs-INDIAJOINTsTATEmENT l INDIA WILL eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products. New Delhi, February 7 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 trust has become IndIa’s strongest currency, says Pm In malaysIa D E L H I , PTI “I can state categorically that the deal will not hurt the interests of India’s farmers, MSMEs, craftsmen in any way.” PIYUSH GOYAL INDIA INTENDS to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years. US WILL apply 18% reciprocal tariff… on originating goods of India, including textile and apparel, leather & footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and certain machinery. US WILL remove reciprocal tariff on goods... including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, aircraft parts. US WILL remove tariffs on certain aircraft and aircraft parts of India… COMMERCE & INDUSTRY MINISTER Farm give and take: 25 per cent penalty Cheaper livestock feed, is off, monitoring of challenge on soyabean Russian oil imports in Harish Damodaran New Delhi, February 7 IF TRADE negotiations are about give and take, there are elements of both in the framework deal that India and the United States have reached in the highly contested and sensitive area of agriculture. Goingbythejointstatement on an “interim” bilateral trade agreement released by the two countries,Indiahasnotopened upitsmarkettoimportsofsoyabean,corn(maize),fuelethanol, cotton or dairy and poultry products from the US. This is quite contrary to fears, more so following claims by the US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L Rollins that the trade agreement will result in “export (of ) more American farm products into India’s »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trump order claims India committed to stop Russia oil ‘directly or indirectly’ Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, February 7 SIX MONTHS after it imposed anadditional25percenttariffon India over its purchase of Russian oil, the Trump administration Saturday issued an execu- tive order lifting the penalty. ItsaidIndiahas“committed tostopdirectlyorindirectlyimporting Russian Federation oil”, that “it will purchase United States energy products fromtheUnitedStates,andhas »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Whyclosing thedealmarks adecisivebreak inDelhi-DC dynamic C Raja Mohan New Delhi, February 7 INDIA’S INTERIM trade deal with the United States marks a clear inflection point in New Delhi’sengagementwithWashington.Itdecisivelybreaksfrom thedefensiveinstinctsthatlong shaped India’s negotiations with America and positions it well to navigate the emerging geo-economic contestations of the world with greater confidence. Moving beyond the old anxieties that framedeveryengagementwith theUSasathreattosovereignty or strategic autonomy, the agreement reflects a more assured India, willing to operate in a complex global economic order on the basis of mutual benefit.India’snegotiatingculture is finally catching up with its growing economic weight and geopolitical salience. As the political class and commentariatporeoverthedetails, the most striking feature E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS, PAGES 4, 9, 10 Ahmedabad T20 WC: India-Pak match back on table as PCB engages ICC Sandeep Dwivedi New Delhi, February 7 THE PAKISTAN Cricket Board (PCB) has approached the International Cricket Council (ICC) to initiate a dialogue over its boycott of the February 15 game against India at the T20 World Cup. Thiscomesinthewakeofthe international cricket body’s detailed communication to PCB after the latter had invoked the ForceMajeureclausetojustifyits last-minutewithdrawalfromthe India game based on the Pakistan government’s instruction. This sudden change of tone on the opening day of the tour- nament reopens the window for cricket’s high-stakes clash between the arch-rivals in Colombo next week. Sources aware of the discussionsaidthattheturnaround came once the ICC conveyed to the PCB the potential damages it would claim. It detailed the conditions under which Force Majeure can legitimately be invoked and asked the Pakistan board to demonstrate what it had done to mitigate it. “TheICCwillnowengagein a structured manner to solve the problem; there would be a dialogue, not confrontation,” an official said. “Subsequent to »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2