The Union government’s Rs 4,531 crore Market Access Support scheme is a timely response to slowing global demand and disruptions in key export markets, our first editorial highlights. Its emphasis on buyer–seller meets, trade fairs and market diversification, with a mandatory 35 per cent MSME participation, will help correct long-standing gaps in market access for smaller firms. However, the scheme addresses visibility rather than competitiveness, the editorial argues. High input costs, logistics bottlenecks, limited testing capacity and regulatory friction continue to undermine export pricing. Without parallel reforms in these areas, MAS risks remaining a supplementary tool rather than a durable export strategy.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s decision to order a US military operation in Venezuela appears driven more by domestic political signalling than by a coherent foreign policy framework, notes our second editorial. The capture of President Nicolás Maduro violates core principles of the UN charter, with little attempt to justify the action through democracy or security claims. The US now faces resistance from Venezuela’s political leadership, uncertainty within its military and hesitation from US firms wary of sanctions and costs, raising doubts about Washington’s ability to stabilise the outcome.
Writing on the stalled India-US trade talks, Ajay Srivastava argues that the impasse reflects strategic power dynamics rather than narrow trade disputes. Unlike many US partners that depend on Washington for security guarantees, India retains strategic autonomy, reducing US leverage. Negotiations now extend well beyond tariffs into energy sourcing, defence procurement, digital regulation and geopolitical alignment. Although India has already made notable concessions, resistance in politically sensitive sectors such as dairy and GM crops suggests negotiators may have reached the limits of compromise.
Harsh V. Pant and Vivek Mishra place the Venezuela operation within a broader shift in US strategic behaviour under Trump. Anchored in a hemispheric security doctrine, the move signals a willingness to use force close to home while avoiding full-scale regime change. By extracting Maduro without installing an alternative leadership, Washington appears to be seeking control without responsibility. How the aftermath is managed will shape whether this becomes a precedent for more frequent coercive interventions.
Finally, in his review, Prosenjit Datta examines If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, a stark warning about the risks posed by advanced AI systems. The book’s strongest sections explain how modern AI remains poorly understood even by its creators, leading to unpredictable and sometimes deceptive behaviour. The authors argue that future systems could pursue goals misaligned with human survival, not out of hostility but indifference. While the proposed safeguards may be politically difficult, Datta finds the warning urgent and hard to dismiss.
Stay tuned!
