DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY FINAL ROUND OF TALKS BEFORE JULY 9 TARIFFS DEADLINE We are going to open up India: Trump on trade deal as Delhi team reaches US India’s oil imports from US surged over 270% in first four months of year Market access in agriculture, other sensitive areas remain sticking point THE WORLD IRAN: TALKS WITH U.S. ‘COMPLICATED’ BY STRIKES ON NUCLEAR SITES PAGE 19 RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 AHEAD OF the arrival of Indian trade negotiators in the US Friday for the final round of inperson talks before the end of the July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs, President Donald Trump said the US and India “may” sign a deal that will “open up India”. “Everybody wants to make a deal and have a part of it… We justsignedwithChinayesterday. We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, may be withIndia.Averybigone,where we are going to open up India. In the China deal, we are starting to open up China,” Trump said at a White House event. “We are not going to make deals with everybody. Some, we are just going to send them a letter, say thank you very much… My people don’t want to do it that way. They want to do some of it,buttheywanttomakemore deals than I would do,” he said. The final round of talks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rajnath for roadmap on de-escalation, border demarcation THEEMERGENCY 50YEARSON Itsshadow—andlight AN EXPRESS SERIES BIG PICTURE P10 &11 EIGHT MONTHS after the disengagementof troopsattheLineof Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun that there is need for a “structured roadmap of permanentengagementandde-escalation”.Hecalledfora“permanent solutionof borderdemarcation”. In his talks Thursday with Dong on the sidelines of the meeting of Defence Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao, Singh underlined the need for E EXPLAINED NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 Moving to ● repair ties FOLLOWING THE meeting between their leaders in Kazan last October and the disengagement of troops along the LAC in Ladakh, India and China have been trying to repair their ties. The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is a step in that direction. “bridgingthetrustdeficitcreated afterthe2020borderstandoff,by CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 US President Donald Trump at the White House. AP INDIA’S OIL imports from the US jumped over 270 per cent yearon-year in the first four months of 2025, underscoring Delhi’s strategy of enhancing American imports amid trade pact negotiations and diversifying its CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, one of five ADMs in Delhi district when the Emergency was imposed in June 1975, recalls The blank editorial in The Indian Express after the Proclamation Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Qingdao, China. ANI RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & AGGAM WALIA sources of crude oil in a volatile geopolitical and geo-economic environment. Negotiations between India and the US for an interim trade deal by July 9 have entered their final phase. According to the latest available data with the Directorate General of Commercial IntelligenceandStatistics(DGCIS), Student raped in Kolkata law college, ex-TMC student leader among 3 held SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, JUNE 27 A 24-YEAR-OLD student was allegedly raped at a law college in Kolkatathisweek,afterwhichpolice arrested three men — a contractual staffer, who was a TMC students’ wing functionary, and two students. The three accused have been identifiedasMonojitMishra(31), Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20). Mishra, the prime accused, was a former student of the law collegeandiscurrentlyemployed in the institution as a contractual staffer,officialssaid.Whilehewas a Trinamool Chhatra Parishad leader during his time as a student, the TMC claimed he is no longer associated with the party. EXPRESS NETWORK ACCUSED HAD FREE RUN OF COLLEGE EVEN AFTER GRADUATING PAGE 16 The two other accused are currentlystudyinginthelawcollege. ThecasehasbeenlodgedunderBNSsections127(2) (wrongful confinement), 70(1) (gangrape), and 3(5) (common intention in criminal acts). According to police sources, the 24-year-old woman had gone to the students’ union room around 4 pm on Wednesday,afterwhichshewas takentoanotherroombytheaccused. There, she was allegedly The night Delhi fell silent, fearing ‘something far-reaching’ AI 171 crash: Last DNA MEETS CHINA COUNTERPART AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & SHUBHAJIT ROY `6.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 THE ONLY woman Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Delhi, the youngest of the five posted in the Capital, Meenakshi Datta Ghosh never expected to findherselfwhereshedid–apart of the night when Independent Indiawitnessedoneof itsbiggest political upheavals. By the time the Emergency Meenakshi Datta Ghosh got a ringside view of 1975 happenings. Kapil Joshi was imposed, the 27-year-old, whowasonlyinhersecondposting on June 25, 1975, had been witness to the Ramlila Maidan rally that preceded, and maybe evenhastenedtheIndiraGandhi government’s crackdown, and seen how the levers of powers were oiled and wills were bent. “The issue was do I comply with the law, or follow the political cum bureaucratic commands? Do I preserve process CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 match day after family holds symbolic funeral ADITI RAJA VADODARA, JUNE 27 FRIDAY MARKED Ashadhi Beej, when Kutchhis celebrate their new year. But the Khimani family was grieving. They were grieving the loss of their loved one, Anil Khimani (32), who was on the London-bound AI 171 that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. They were also grieving be- Anil Khimani cause his was the only body amongthe241deadthathadnot yet been identified through a DNA match. Searchingfor“closure”andto CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Gujarat Congress Vice President, son arrested in Rs 7.3 cr MGNREGA ‘scam’ ADITI RAJA VADODARA, JUNE 27 OVER A month after an FIR was filed against two Gir-Somnath based agencies in connection withanallegedMGNREGAscam of Rs7.3croreinBharuchdistrict, the district police on Thursday night arrested Gujarat Congress Vice President Hira Jotva and his son Digvijay on Friday afternoon for allegedly siphoning off the funds from government treasury. Anoutsourcedtechnicalstaff, Ramesh Tailor, was also arrested for his alleged “involvement” in the case. The arrest triggered a political slugfest with the Hira Jotva Gujarat unit of Congress slamming the “vindictive nature of BJP” even as the latter refused to react to the Opposition’s remarks. The Bharuch district police, whichhadsummonedJotvaand brought him to the district late on Thursday night, said that evidence pointed at Jotva and Digvijay being partners in both firms and “having used the siphoned funds” from the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AAP divided Delhi into two verticals, ignored those paying taxes: CM Gupta EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JUNE 27 ACCUSING THE previous AAP government of dividing Delhi into “two verticals” by ignoring tax-payers,Chief MinisterRekha GuptasaidThursdaythatpeople are now “running towards Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida” in the National Capital Region (NCR) instead of setting up busi- Delhi CM Rekha Gupta at the Express Adda in New Delhi on Thursday. Renuka Puri nesses in the city. SpeakingattheExpressAdda Thursday, Gupta also said the BJP'spollpromiseof distributing Rs 2,500 each per month to women from economically weaker sections would be implementedsoon,sayinghergovernment did not want to “rush intothings”.Askedaboutthe ongoing demolition drives in slum clusters, Gupta said it was time CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Out of field, another battle brews between clubs in Yorkshire — of ‘cricket teas’ EXPRESSIN ENGLAND SANDEEP DWIVEDI BIRMINGHAM, JUNE 27 A TEA break for a club cricket gameinthesub-continentistypically a quick round of cutting chai. In case the hosts are generous, there may be a plate of biscuits and a few odd wafers thrownin.InYorkshire,England’s deeply traditional county with 800 clubs and over 125,000 Club players during a tea break in Yorkshire, England recreational players, tea can’t be light, nor can it be taken lightly. Around here, clubs have designated ‘tea ladies’, the honour bestowed on the wife, daughter or sister of a home player who plays host as sandwiches, cakes, scones, and, of course, tea is served. But with that spread, a club can’t expect to win the fiercely contested ‘Cricket Yorkshire Tea of the Year’ competition that’s sponsored by, who else, Yorkshire Tea. In its fourth year, the contest has been announced and alongwith the smell of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad