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The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
U.S.-India ‘mini deal' by July 9 possible but likely ‘symbolic,' say industry leaders
While a mini trade deal between India and the US still seems possible before July 9, such a deal would likely be a 'symbolic one' centred on 'low-hanging fruits', according to industry captains. Such a deal, they added, would be a small beginning in a long journey for the world's largest democracies. According to Atul Keshap, former Ambassador and President of U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), a business advocacy group that represents companies in the U.S, India, and the Pacific region, a mini trade deal would be a first step in the two countries' longer journey toward achieving the 'Mission 500' target of $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. 'There is great promise in building deeper energy and technology ties, in electronics and IT, which will remain strong pillars of our bilateral trade,'' Mr. Keshap told The Hindu. He further said that clinching an initial agreement would reaffirm the steadfast partnership between the two governments and show both parties were committed to trade as a tool for enhancing economic progress and building new commercial opportunities. Responding to a query on what could prove to be key sticking points, Mr. Keshap said, 'The more trade between two countries, the higher the chances for disagreements over trade policy. In the end, we need a deal that enables the private sectors of both countries to deliver on the promise of free enterprise and entrepreneurship.'' He further said, USIBC believed that there was great promise in building deeper energy and technology ties, in electronics and IT, which would remain strong pillars of our bilateral trade. 'It is very important that both governments discuss and deliberate on what can increase bilateral trade between the two countries,'' he opined. Kami Viswanathan, President of Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA), FedEx, also said she was hopeful of seeing a mini deal out by the expected time. 'It's due for some time now, and I hope it comes soon. I hope there will be something happening within the timeline itself. That will do good to businesses, trade, and to both countries,'' she anticipated. Kumar Deep, Country Director-India, Information Technology Industry Council, a Washington DC-based apex body for global tech firms, thought that, 'There is an ever-changing geopolitical situation. We are not sure as to what is going to come out by July 9, will there be a formal trade announcement by that time or not. But it is heartening to see that both governments are closely engaged in having some concrete trade negotiations. That is very positive and earlier we have not seen these energies working towards improving relationships.'' According to Mr. Deep, in the last three months, there have been several delegations visiting New Delhi and Washington. It is a complex deal and the design has to be right for both governments, businesses in both countries and their people, he commented. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, former Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati (DD&AIR) and co-founder of DataDaan, a nationwide programme designed to promote voluntary data sharing for AI model training and innovation, said the fundamentals of both countries were so robust, and historically India and the U.S have been together in many ways. ``It is only a logical extension that we deepen our ties across technology, supply chain and many other areas and minimise barriers. Things are now looking very positive.'' Pradeep Rao, Director and Chief Architect at Kyndryl, a spin-off from IBM, in his individual capacity said, 'A mini deal by July 9, I do think it's technically feasible, especially if it focuses on low-hanging fruit in the technology and digital trade sectors.'' The timeline, however, was indeed tight, and the deal would likely be symbolic, maybe paving the way for a broader framework, he opined. Given the strategic importance of the Indo-U.S. tech corridor — covering everything from AI to semiconductors to cybersecurity — both governments have strong incentives to showcase some tangible progress, said Mr. Rao. The U.S. Chamber has argued against the application of broad-based tariffs, Mr. Keshap said. 'Tariffs are a tax, paid by domestic businesses and consumers, and they undermine growth and productivity.'' The USIBC was also discussing joint investments, co-development of technologies, institutionalising reforms, and building a two-way investment corridor supporting Indian investments in the United States and U.S. investments in India, he said. According to Mr. Rao, American businesses are indeed protesting the tariffs, particularly in the tech and digital hardware sectors. US companies, from cloud service providers to chipmakers, see India as a fast-growing market and R&D hub, but high tariffs on electronics, semiconductors, and ICT infrastructure hurt their competitiveness. ''Nobody likes tariffs in the U.S, everybody wants a bunch of good trade deals and negotiations. We have been vouching for open market access and a level playing field for all our member companies. There could be all kinds of models, in-sourcing, onshoring, or outsourcing, eventually it should make business sense to all,'' said Mr. Deep.
India Today
25-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Trump 2.0 and the new world disorder
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated Nov 18, 2024)If genius is the ability to make the complex simple, then Donald Trump's historic comeback as the 47th President of the United States can only serve as the best example of that. At his victory speech in Florida, Trump outlined his agenda quite plainly, but effectively. 'The core is common sense,' he wanna have borders. We wanna have security. We wanna have things to be good and safe. We want a great education. We want a strong and powerful military and, ideally, we don't want to have to use it. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars. We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again.'At the end of his speech, he declared, 'We make promises. We keep promises.' Few political leaders have such a straightforward and uncomplicated world view, which seems to have struck a chord with the US electorate. They have voted him back with a handsome majority, ignoring the many felonies, including sexual abuse, various federal courts have charged him with. Many of Trump's promises are similar to the ones he had made to win his first term as president between 2016 and 2020. He could implement only some of them, that too with limited success. It was one of the reasons why President Joe Biden managed to thwart his bid for a second consecutive term. But that interlude proved short-lived as Trump returns reloaded and raring to reset the American dream when he formally assumes office on January 20, of the world waits with trepidation for, as Ashley Tellis, senior fellow at the Washington DC-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a top expert on Indo-US relations, puts it, 'We are going to have a tumultuous presidency. Trump is going to come with much greater confidence and with an army of acolytes and foot soldiers who regard him as an apostle of a revolution. They are determined to take an axe to the roots. He will do things no previous American president would have even contemplated doing. There will be serious perturbations in terms of the traditional American role in hegemonic stability.'In his second term, as in his first, Trump's domestic agenda will be his most compelling concern, and his foreign policy will be subservient to the radical reforms he has in mind for his country. During his campaign for re-election, Trump's team brought out a manifesto called 'Agenda 47', which listed a range of major policy initiatives, domestic and foreign, that he would implement, even if it meant trampling on the powers of the US include a radical downsizing of government bureaucracy and restructuring of administrative appointments, to fire those he calls 'rogue bureaucrats' and make way for those aligned to his policy. In the US Department of Justice, for instance, Trump has pledged to appoint 100 US attorneys to fight, among other things, anti-conservative bias and left-leaning law firms. On crime, he has promised to be tough and bring in the death penalty for human traffickers, drug dealers and plans in other spheres have elicited equal consternation domestically. In education, for example, among the initiatives listed is a plan to get rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and replace them with ones more in line with the Republican party values. Professor Sumit Ganguly, a senior fellow at the Hoover Foundation at Stanford University, describes much of what Trump is planning as 'a domestic Reaganite revolution on steroids'.Ronald Reagan, one of the best recent Republican presidents of America, brought about a major economic revival during his tenure between 1981 and 1989 by lowering taxes and freeing the economy of bureaucratic constraints, besides undertaking some path-breaking initiatives to tackle the Cold War. But while Reagan recognised there was a diffusion of power and there were things that the president could or could not do, Trump, Ganguly fears, 'is likely to steamroller those kinds of normative institutional procedural constraints'. The same is likely to be true of his foreign policy agenda as well, as the new president will try to ram through his disruptive transactional approachBut what is the world according to Trump? Simply put, it is ensuring America's interests first with those of every other nation coming a very distant second. Trump is unabashed about his transactional approach to key issues and is convinced that America's decline was because it ended up paying everyone else's bills to maintain the global order while the US itself got diminishing returns. As he puts it, 'these guys ate our lunch'.Despite the American economy doing well under Biden, Trump's campaign theme of high retail prices and low job growth got him the support of the working-class American, who felt the pinch the most. Equally resonant was his amplification of the perceived threat posed by immigrants, especially illegal ones, who would take away American jobs. Among the first things he promises to do when he takes charge in January 2025 is to execute 'the largest deportment program' of illegal immigrants ever than anything else, however, Trump is hell-bent on dismantling America's international statecraft which, after World War II, fashioned alliances and institutions that would foster a liberal order to enable peace and prosperity for much of the world while ensuring US supremacy and idealism. Post-war US presidents pursued an expansive foreign and trade policy that pushed for greater globalisation through openness to trade and investments and even intervening militarily against forces that threatened world wants to do just the opposite with his 3-D policy of disrupt, disengage and deglobalise. Shades of that agenda played out in his first term itself, as he locked into a trade war with China, pulled out of major international pacts, including the 2014 Paris Climate Change agreements, and antagonised NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) allies by saying the security blanket that the US provided them was no longer free and that they should up their own defence spending to meet the his second term, Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution, says, the big concern broadly will be 'his volatility and transactional approach. Trump's volatility will be even harder to deal with. One day he could be competitive with China and tomorrow he could strike a deal'. This Trump presidency comes at a time of two major international challenges—the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza conflict. Regarding the first, Trump boasted he would get Russian president Vladimir Putin to strike a deal on Ukraine and end the war within days of taking over. He said the same of the Gaza conflict, though with less conviction. His stance with his NATO allies is likely to remain the same—he will continue to ask them to cough up more for their does not want to assume any international leadership role if it involves a price tag that the US has to pay for,' says Tellis. He believes that Trump is likely to ask hard questions over sustaining major US policies, including defending Taiwan and could even swap it for a big deal with China. Madan's main concern is that the US may not want to get entangled in such conflicts and end up saying, 'Russia, you handle Europe, and China, you handle Asia. It doesn't suit India's interest for an American president to withdraw completely from Asia.'What many experts deeply fear is the possible decline in US power should Trump carry his insular and isolationist agenda into his second term. This could, in the long term, lead to greater world conflict. Condoleezza Rice, a key policy-maker in the George W. Bush presidency, without directly referring to the Trump administration, in a perceptive article in Foreign Affairs before the election results, warned: 'The new Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—populism, nativism, isolationism, and protectionism—tend to ride together, and they are challenging the political the United States can counter their advance and resist the temptation to go back to the future. But generating support for an internationalist foreign policy requires a president to paint a vivid picture of what that world would be like without an active United States. In such a world, an emboldened Putin and Xi, having defeated Ukraine, would move on to their next conquest.... American leaders should remind the public that a reluctant United States has repeatedly been drawn into conflict—in 1917, 1941 and 2001. Isolation has never been the answer to the country's security or prosperity.'Trading punchesTrump, though, is not one to heed such wise counsel. Ever since his first term, he has been convinced that others have gleefully exploited America's generosity for too long and that it was payback time now. Top among the list of policy changes he is contemplating is a drastic rise in tariffs (the most beautiful word in the dictionary, in his book). Doing so is likely to destroy the global trading system, particularly the effectiveness of the World Trade Organization, but Trump doesn't care because he believes it does not serve America's interests. He intends to erect protectionist walls around America, which could well mark the beginning of the end of prime target is China, but so is India, which he calls 'the Tariff King'. China has had a favourable trade balance with the US for long, which rankled Trump even during his first term. Even though he pushed China hard to set the imbalance right, it remains skewed in China's favour. Of the $575 billion worth of goods trade with the US in 2023, China enjoyed a favourable balance of $279 billion. Trump has vowed to impose an across-the-board hike of 60 per cent in tariffs on Chinese imports, which could result in the decoupling of the world's two largest while he may claim to be 'a true friend' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with a $35.3 billion trade surplus in India's favour, Trump is likely to impose a 10 per cent rise in tariffs on Indian exports to the US. India had a taste of this Trumpian resolve during the first term, when in 2019 he withdrew the preferential tariffs New Delhi enjoyed under America's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that covered $6.3 billion, or 12 per cent of the goods exported to the US. The tariffs on steel and aluminium exports also went up by 25 and 10 per cent, India could do was retaliate, by imposing higher tariffs on 29 goods it imported from the US, including almonds, walnuts, chickpeas and apples. Many experts expect Trump to only be tougher in his second tenure. Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), warns, 'Not just India and China, Trump is going to close the doors of America from the import perspective by putting in massive tariffs. There will also be lot of transactional uncertainty where there could be frequent changes in policy that could disrupt India's exports.'Some do spy an opportunity for India in Trump targeting trade with China, saying it could make Indian goods more competitive. Tellis is quick to curb that enthusiasm, saying he expects only a modest rise in exports on this count. 'At the end of the day,' he says, 'India has neither the quality nor the competitive pricing to match China. Also, since all this activity is essentially driven by the private actors in the global marketplace, India may not be able to become an adequate substitute.'The exceptions are niche areas like defence products that concern national security, where US companies may be willing to pay a premium to import from India rather than China. Also, rather than the retaliatory trade measures India responded with in Trump's first term, experts advise that we make concessions in some of the tariffs to accommodate the US. As an official experienced in such negotiations says, 'We should not look to balance every trade deal, but look at the macro picture and see where we can do business. The Trump administration is pragmatic and will be happy to go in for a win-win deal.'Another likely area of friction is Trump's policy on migrants, especially illegal ones. While he will use the strong-arm measures he has promised to evict illegal migrants, even in his victory speech, he was forced to concede that he was not against legal migrants. It is not only South Americans who will feel the heat of Trump's crackdown on illegal migrants. There are a large number of illegal migrants—an estimated 725,000—from India as well, particularly from Punjab and Gujarat, who seek refuge in the US. Last year, the Biden administration deported over 1,100 of them back to Trump is also likely to further trim the number of H1B visas for non-immigrant workers, which is currently limited to 85,000 annually, a bulk of which are cornered by Indians. The second Trump administration is likely to withdraw the spouse's work permits and make rules for issuing such visas far more stringent. This could have a downside for Trump, though. Along with his restrictive trade policy measures, mass deportations are likely to cause price rise and inflation in the US, since it will become costlier to produce and TrumpFor New Delhi, Trump's return does not evoke as much anxiety as it does in other world capitals. That is because, in the past two decades, India and the US have 'overcome the hesitations of history', as Modi calls it, and forged a strategic partnership that has grown both in stature, depth and breadth. In his first term, Trump's trade antagonism towards China saw him view India as an Asian bulwark against Xi Jinping's aggressive ambitions. The Trump administration worked hard to put in place agreements that would make transfer of defence technology and equipment to India on par with its closest allies. It was Biden, though, who took India-US relations to an altogether higher level by not only clearing deals to sell state-of-the-art drones but also, in a first, permitting jet engine production in and Modi also signed up for a major collaboration on critical and emerging technologies, including semi-conductor chips, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and wireless telecommunication. 'The US and India,' says Tellis, 'have dipped their toes in high tech before deciding to swim together. What's important is that the embrace is not just of government but also between the two societies at the entrepreneurial and technological layers. We need to structure such opportunities for Indian and US entrepreneurs to explore other possible partnerships for the long term.'Experts, however, point out that there is no room for complacency and, given Trump's mercurial personality, urge India to work hard to stay on his right side. 'It has to be a win-win situation,' says an expert in dealing with India-US relations. 'For that, both sides must realise the inevitability of India-US cooperation. For India, aspiring to be a developed nation by 2047, there is no better partner than the US. For Trump's mercantile approach, India, with its large middle-class market and talent pool, makes it important to continue engaging with it more closely for America's economic growth and for creating jobs.'Another expert says that the key is for Trump to see India as a solution provider for all the major problems that America faces. Few, for instance, know that Indian pharmaceutical companies supplied 40 per cent of all drug prescriptions filled in the US in 2022, resulting in an annual saving of $219 billion to America's health expenditure because of their competitive must also try to be the first mover in the opportunities a Trump administration could throw up. The de-risking from China is critical for US companies, which offers Indian companies a chance to partner with them in a host of key areas. The Modi government needs to ensure that these companies have a level playing field, that there is transparency and consistency in policy, apart from making sure that there is absolute ease of doing Aghi of USISPF also offers the radical suggestion of converting the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) comprising the US, Australia, Japan and India into a common market that could become a platform for their own economic growth. Combined, these countries have a GDP of $35 trillion. These four countries, he points out, are already collaborating on technology, security and other key areas and could together drive a whole new agenda on the economic cannot be sure if Trump will buy into this form of mini-lateralism, especially as his 'Make in America' policy, which Biden also pursued, clashes with Modi's Make in India initiatives. Or if he will encourage friend-shoring some of the US production capacity to India. As Madan says, 'It depends on how Trump decides to deal with China. If he is hawkish towards Beijing, it incentivises his administration to give high priority to engage with India. Also, both India and the US will have to show willingness to manage their differences, including the pretty big stuff.'In addition to trade issues, Trump's position on climate change, including his decision to pull the plug on Biden's initiative to provide incentives to companies to lower their carbon emissions and fund greentech development, may be a source of worry. Trump's 'drill-baby-drill' slogan to encourage US domestic oil industry to expand production will mean a huge setback to the world climate change movement that India is committed to. On the plus side, it eases the pressure Europe has been putting on New Delhi to hasten its plans to phase out coal. Trump may also not press the brakes hard on green energy projects, so that his most vociferous supporter, Tesla chief Elon Musk, can fulfil his ambition to make his company the world's largest producer of electric may have one more thing going for it for Trump to maintain the relationship—the high-profile and prosperous 4.5 million Indian diaspora, which he has actively sought to woo. Kamala Harris may exit as vice president in January but Usha Vance, wife of VP-elect J.D. Vance, will ensure the India flavour remains. With Trump being an instinctive leader and responsive to personalised diplomacy, the old Modi playbook of hugs, rallies, catchy slogans like 'Namaste Trump' and blandishments could work return of President Trump is without doubt one of the greatest political comebacks the US has seen. We also know that he will be predictably unpredictable. And that is precisely why his second term promises to be one of the biggest turning points in world to India Today Magazine- EndsTrending Reel
Mint
13-06-2025
- General
- Mint
What led to Air India plane crash? Experts weigh 4 possible reasons behind tragedy
Investigators are racing against time to find the cause of the deadly Air India plane crash — one of the India's worst plane crashes recorded in a decade. India has already launched an investigation into the fatal crash of the London-bound Air India plane that plunged and hit a residential area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, minutes after takeoff on Thursday. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew onboard the Air India plane were killed in the crash. With the investigation underway, several experts have weighed in on the possible reasons that could have led to the crash of the Air India plane. Here's what they said after analysing early evidence, videos and photos of the crash: US experts said on Thursday that the plane involved in the crash at Ahmedabad did not seem 'properly configured' and that the crash appeared 'surprising' at first glance. Analysing the videos and photos of the crash, Aviation safety consultant John M Cox said the grainy images of the flight suggested that one area of inquiry was likely to be whether the slats and flaps were in the correct position as the plane attempted to climb. 'It's hard to tell but from looking at the aircraft from behind… it doesn't look like the trailing edge flaps are in the position I would have expected them to be,' he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying. The CEO of Washington DC-based Safety Operating Systems, however, cautioned that the image quality is "not good enough to make that conclusion. It's just an area where I know that they're going to look.' As per the initial footage, the aircraft initially climbed on a normal trajectory before it suddenly began descending. Experts noted the plane appeared to maintain a nose-up attitude, a posture usually not associated with a normal descent. This, according to them, suggests a significant and sudden loss of engine thrust, the Hindustan Times reported. 'The image shows the airplane with the nose rising and it continuing to sink,' Cox said. 'That says that the airplane is not making enough lift," he said. He said, "The slats and flaps should be positioned so that the wing makes more lift at lower speeds." Former pilot Saurabh Bhatnagar told Indian news TV channel New Delhi Television LTD the incident appears to involve 'multiple bird hits'. Bird strikes refers to a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight, taking-off or landing. Bhatnagar was quoted as saying: 'It looks, prima facie, like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power." He noted that the take-off was "perfect" but "the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power or the aircraft stops developing lift." However, Sam Thomas, president of the Airline Pilots Association of India (ALPA) told HT that it was 'highly unlikely' a flock of birds disabled both engines. A report cited experts analysing why the aircraft's landing gear was not retracted. Capt Manoj Hathi, a former Air India official, told the Times of India, "It's possible that a dual engine flame-out was the reason the landing gear could not be retracted. Dual engine failure could occur due to bird ingestion or fuel contamination. Looking at the trajectory and body angle of the aircraft, it appears as if the aircraft has stalled because of loss of speed." Former pilot Ehsan Khalid explained that the landing gear is raised as soon as the flight takes off. "Since the landing gear was down, it is possible that a loss of engine was detected beforehand... The biggest question is why the landing gear was not up....," he said. According to the TOI, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its statement the pilots gave a MAYDAY call seconds after take-off. This information reportedly supporting the theory that a dual engine failure occurred probably after the aircraft crossed the speed beyond which a take-off cannot be safely aborted. Other pilots said the possibility of a dual engine failure is a rare event with about seven documented accidents in the past seven decades. Former pilot Ehsan Khalid told the Times of India the aircraft appeared to have faced a loss of power, which could be attributed to engine malfunction. However, he stressed that it is highly unlikely for both engines to fail simultaneously, especially due to a bird strike within such a short timeframe. "The visuals show that the aircraft faced a loss of power... The loss of power can be due to engine malfunction, but it is very unlikely that both engines would lose power simultaneously... It is a very big engine, and it is rare that both engines lose power due to a bird hit in a one-minute duration," he was quoted as saying. Although just preliminary clues and theories are emerging, a definitive cause remains elusive until the government probe concludes. Professor John McDermid, of the University of York, said it was too early to know 'in any detail'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sudanese top illegal migrant detection chart
Sudanese nationals are now the most common illegal migrants detected in Britain within three days of evading border controls. Thousands of Sudanese have arrived via small boats over the last year, and are at times discovered at ports when boats are intercepted or lorries are found with migrants aboard. The latest Government data, however, shows them to be the top group not detected immediately on crossings, but within 72 hours of irregular entry. In the year to March, 21 per cent of those found within three days of crossing the border illegally were Sudanese. They were also among the top three nationalities arriving via small boats to the UK in the first quarter of the year. The data reflects the ongoing civil war in Sudan, which has created 14.3 million refugees, according to a new report by the UN refugee agency. Smugglers have lowered their prices for Channel crossings by boat for Sudanese nationals, as many cannot afford to pay the thousands of euros typically charged for such journeys. Bringing down prices is a response to the success that some Sudanese have had in sneaking onto boats intended for other migrants who have paid smugglers, or by jumping onto lorries and squeezing into the narrow space between the driver cabin and cargo bed. Whereas many small boat arrivals are intercepted, lorry crossings while hiding with the cargo are often not detected immediately. Munzir, a Sudanese refugee in Calais, told The Telegraph: 'When we find some people who bring the boat, we jump in. It's not easy for us to cross; sometimes the police will come and destroy your boat.' As the Sudan conflict enters a third year and a humanitarian crisis continues to unfold, refugees are likely to keep seeking ways to flee the country. 'The humanitarian conditions in Sudan continue to deteriorate, with the declared famine leading to acute malnutrition, starvation, and severe, widespread food insecurity,' according to the Soufan Center, a Washington DC-based think tank that focuses on security issues. Last year, they were the sixth-largest nationality arriving on boats, at a total of 2,695 people, representing a 63 per cent increase from the year prior. 'Sometimes you can negotiate with the smugglers,' said Munzir. 'We say, 'we don't have money', and sometimes they agree, because you see, if they don't agree and we start to fight each other, then the police will come.' In Calais, hundreds of Sudanese refugees take shelter in what many refer to as the 'hangar', a large abandoned storage facility. Charity groups deliver humanitarian aid around here each week, supplying people – many of whom are minors – with hot meals and medical care. In 2024, people from Sudan and Ukraine were the top two nationalities seeking asylum, with each group accounting for more than 870,000 applications. Flooding and heavy rains last summer further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, displacing 200,000 people. Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers, manufactured by Norinco, a Chinese state-owned corporation, have been used in Sudan, and were likely exported there by the UAE in violation of an arms embargo, finds Amnesty International. Three in five people in Sudan are in need of aid, amounting to more than 30 million people – the first time that a single country has hit such a high figure, according to an April report by a consortium of aid groups. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Post
05-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani's posture reveals how Dems really felt during tense NYC mayoral debate showdown: experts
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo dodging an onslaught of jabs and socialist state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani trying to snag a viral breakout moment were among the standouts from New York City's mayoral Democratic primary debate. Body language experts weighed in after the Democratic candidates sparred against each other Wednesday in the first debate of the 2025 primary election — as they jostled to outshine in each other in an already overcrowded race. Here's what they had to say of the top moments: Advertisement 5 The Democratic candidates for New York City mayor participating in a debate on June 4, 2025. Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock A rapidly blinking Cuomo Despite being the front-runner, Cuomo's body language clearly shifted as the NBC-Politico debate wore on as he was relentlessly attacked by his fellow candidates over more than two hours. The former governor, 67, dramatically increased his blinking when peppered with questions about his handling of COVID nursing home deaths and the sexual harassment scandal that led to his resignation, according to Washington DC-based body language expert Christopher Ulrich. Advertisement 'Initially confident and expressive, Cuomo's posture changed over time — particularly when he was under attack,' Ulrich said. 5 Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo looked uncomfortable as the attacks from other candidates continued, body language experts told The Post. 'We also saw an increase in blink rate when asked questions about COVID-19 nursing home deaths and sexual harassment.' The behavior, the expert noted, was a clear sign of 'increased psychological discomfort.' Hand in his pocket Advertisement Cuomo was also repeatedly spotted with his hand in his pocket as the going got tough, according to experts. 'While under verbal attack from the rest of the candidates, we see Cuomo keep his hand in his pocket, a self-soothing or protective gesture that often signals discomfort,' Ulrich said. At various points, Cuomo could be seen staring down at his podium as the attacks continued. 5 Cuomo kept on putting his hand in his pocket throughout the debate. NBC / YouTube Advertisement 'These unrelenting jabs, that obviously hit his sore spots, ultimately resulted in Cuomo looking down at his podium more than he looked up at the other candidates, the hosts or the camera,' brain and body language expert and psychiatrist Carole Lieberman said. 'To remove himself from the hostility directed at him, he began writing something and concentrated on it, so as not to be disturbed.' In search of a viral moment Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist Queens Assemblyman, repeatedly used wild hand gestures in an apparent bid to steal the spotlight from Cuomo, the experts said. '[He] employed numerous attacks, including references to Cuomo's donors and the COVID report, to try to contrast and achieve one of those viral moments,' Ulrich said, adding that he often gestured toward Cuomo when delivering the attacks. 5 Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani used wild hand gestures to stand out during his clashes with Cuomo, experts say. Lieberman noted that Mamdani — who has zeroed in on young, white, ultra-left New Yorkers during his campaign — often used 'sensational, dramatic language' on stage at 30 Rockefeller Center. 'He is the wild card in the race, as his hand gestures, pointing in all directions, underscored,' she said. 'He was the most animated and determined to outshine Cuomo.' A statesmanlike performance A fired up Rev. Michael Blake came off as 'very stately' — even as the former Obama administration official consistently hammered Cuomo on stage, Lieberman said. Advertisement Ulrich added that Blake, a former Bronx Assembly member, tried to command attention with his Cuomo onslaught. 5 Rev. Michael Blake appeared 'stately' as he stood up to Cuomo. 'Mr. Blake stood out in some of the key moments by demanding Cuomo clarify several of his answers,' he said. 'Reporters often picked up on those demands and would repeat Blakes's clarifying questions. 'By interjecting assertively and keeping others quiet, Blake commanded attention. This approach mirrored techniques used by Trump in the 2016 Republican primary debates,' Ulrich said.
