Red carpet to a new era.

"US President Joe Biden and Narendra Modi hailed a new era in their countries' relationship after the White House rolled out the red carpet for the Indian prime minister on Thursday (yesterday), touting deals on defense and commerce aimed at countering China's growing influence," Reuters. "Biden and Modi signed off on a deal to allow General Electric to produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft, through an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics. US Navy ships in the region will be able to stop in Indian shipyards" and "India will procure US-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones." US chip maker Micron Technology will invest in Gujarat and India will join the US in space research. China, watch out. All that is for the future. As of now, "India's pharmaceutical exports have maintained their upward trend, reaching $25.3 billion, roughly Rs 2,08,231 crore (Rs 2.08 trillion), for the financial year 2022-23 despite setbacks, according to data from Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), a division of the ministry of commerce and industry." Sadly, in January 2023, "The World Health Organisation has warned against the use of two India cough syrups for children that have been linked to deaths in Uzbekistan." "In October 2022, the WHO sounded a similar alert, linking four cough syrups made by another Indian firm to the deaths of 66 children from kidney injuries in The Gambia." Who cares? Just deny. Alarmingly, "US inspectors have in recent months uncovered wide-ranging lapses at factories run by some of India's biggest pharmaceutical firms," and "detailed insanitary conditions in manufacturing plants and poorly trained staff; shredded paperwork and under-investigated customer complaints; and evidence of exporting contaminated drugs to the US." DH. Customers are treated with the utmost contempt by all businesses in India. "The FDA (Food and Drug Administration), for instance, has banned drugs produced by Intas Pharmaceuticals from being imported into the US," wrote Mihir Sharma. "There's a distinct possibility economic nationalists in the US could seize the examples such as Intas to force the onshoring of medicine production, even of generics that can and should be cheaply and efficiently elsewhere." Meanwhile, "India's exports in the month of May declined 10.3 percent to $34.98 billion while imports fell 6.6 percent to $57.1 billion, government data showed." ET. "India's merchandise trade deficit in May stood at $22.12 billion, according to a Reuters calculation." And so, "Wilful defaulters and companies involved in fraud can go for a compromise settlement or technical write offs by banks and non-banking finance companies, as per the new RBI circular." The Wire. "In 2018, it was reported that out of 5,600 wilful defaulters, 15% were from Gujarat." Hope we don't make jet engines like cough syrup. Planes could fall out of the sky. Spectacular.