India Foundation, in collaboration with India Habitat Centre, organised a panel discussion on the topic ‘The Geopolitics of Technology, Trade and Tariffs’ at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on Monday, 17 March, 2025. The program began with initial remarks by the experts and was followed by free-flowing discussions. The panelists for the session included Ashok Sajjanhar, Former Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, Smita Purushottam, Founder, SITARA and Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, RIS. The session was moderated by Alok Bansal, Director, India Foundation.
There was also a thorough discussion of how the idea of tariffs has gained prominence since President Trump returned to the White House. Amb. Sajjanhar pointed out as to how the geopolitical scenario has undergone a major shift in a very small period of time and how this is going to impact the overall global economic situation. Professor Chaturvedi further reiterated this, saying that someone needs to inform President Trump that the idea of tariffs, which he supports, upsets the global supply chain in today’s interconnected world. While tariffs may have been successful twenty years ago, he continued, they have less of an influence today, and the effects of such measures will probably be felt in the coming two to three months. Ambassador Purushottam also backed up this claim, saying that nations implementing protectionist measures would grow more isolated and cause large global economic gaps. At the end of the session, a number of interesting questions were posed, such as worries about how tariffs might affect Indian businesses, especially those in the steel industry.
