Phases 2, 3 of US Tariffs on India Yet to Come, Says Trump; Govt Pact With Kuki Militant Groups to Resume After 18 Months; US-Based Hindu Group Demands Peter Navarro's Dismissal for ‘Brahmin’ Remark

Air Fares Soar For the Diwali Period, The Blame for Environmental Degradation and Floods Lies With our Political Class, Rural India’s Population Growth Now at Replacement Levels

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

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Over to Sidharth Bhatia for today’s Cable

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Snapshot of the day

September 4, 2025

Sidharth Bhatia

After the Suspension of Operations agreement between the Union home ministry, the Manipur government and two Kuki-Zo insurgent umbrella groups went into stasis for some 18 months following Imphal's withdrawal from it, the three sides today agreed to resume the agreement for a year on re-negotiated terms. The Hindu reports that the United People's Front and the Kuki National Organisation groups have agreed to relocate seven SoO camps away from ‘areas vulnerable to conflict’ and also to subject their cadre to verification by security forces so that foreign citizens can be ‘de-listed’. The Kuki-Zo Council civil society organisation has also agreed – ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first expected visit to Manipur since the ethnic conflict broke out there over 28 months ago – to open up the arterial National Highway 2 to the movement of passengers and essential goods.

‘Phases 2 and 3’ of Washington's tariffs against India, meant to deal a blow to Russia's ability to sustain its war against Ukraine, haven't even been unveiled yet, US President Donald Trump said during a media interaction in the Oval Office yesterday. Bristling at a reporter's asking him why he hadn't acted against Moscow even as it continues warring against Ukraine, Trump said:

“How do you know there's no action? Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China … would you say there was no action? That cost Russia hundreds of billions. You call that no action? And I haven't done phase 2 yet, or phase 3. But when you say there's no action I think you ought to get yourself a new job, because if you remember, two weeks ago, I did–I said ‘if India buys, India's got big problems’, and that's what's happened. So don't tell me about that.”

Meanwhile, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul during his visit to New Delhi yesterday took care to