Sonu Bhaskar Profile picture
Aug 28 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/5

What do great nations do when one door is slammed shut?

Amid the India–US tariff war, India is not sulking: it is strategising.

The Economic Times (via Reuters) reports that India has drawn up a new export strategy covering nearly 50 countries.

Yes, 50 nations! 🌏🇮🇳

A thread 🧵Image
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This isn’t just a reaction; it’s realignment.

Outreach is widening to China, the Middle East, and Africa.

Free trade agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland take effect on October 1.

The UK deal comes into force next April. Talks with Oman, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU are already finalised.Image
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Sector by sector, the shift is clear.

Seafood exports are pivoting to Russia, the UK, the EU, Norway, Switzerland, and South Korea.

For diamonds and jewelry, India is turning to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Africa.

The message?

India is finding tailored markets for each industry, hedging risk, and multiplying opportunity.

economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/f…

outlookbusiness.com/economy-and-po…Image
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The same pattern runs through cotton.

India has extended the import duty exemption on cotton till 31st December 2025.

The import duty exemption applies to all imported cotton, not just from America.

Why?

To protect India’s textile industry from tariff shocks, stabilise domestic prices, and safeguard millions of weavers, spinners, and small manufacturers who form Bharat’s backbone.Image
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Tariffs may close one door, but India is opening fifty more.

This is strategic autonomy in action.

From textiles to seafood to diamonds, Bharat is diversifying, shielding jobs, strengthening competitiveness, and rebalancing global trade.

Bharat will not be boxed in by the whims of "Washington".

India is not following the world’s playbook—it’s writing a new one for a multipolar economy. ✊🇮🇳Image
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More from @DrSonuBhaskar

Aug 25
1/10🧵

What happens when faith cloaks politics?

It’s time to challenge the myth of “tolerant Sufism” with a critical examination, and yes, with receipts.

Sufism, often romanticised as “poetry, peace, and love" or “mystical Islam,” was not always just poetry & whirling dervishes.

Behind the music and mysticism, history shows Sufi orders often acted as Trojan horses - embedding Islam into non-Muslim societies through culture, settlement, and shrines.

It wasn’t just about devotion; it was about expansion.

As J.S. Trimingham (The Sufi Orders in Islam, 1971) explains, Sufi brotherhoods were not just mystical circles but mass organisations with military, political, and economic clout, crucial in the Islamisation of Africa, Anatolia, and Asia.

They offered a “velvet glove” for the iron fist of conquest.

A thread you don't want to miss! 🧵Image
2/10 🧵

Take Bengal. Richard M. Eaton’s The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 (1993) is the landmark study here.

He shows how Sufi pirs spearheaded Islamisation by clearing forests, cultivating land, and founding shrines.

Conversion wasn’t sudden or forced - it was a slow transformation tied to settlement.

People entered the economic orbit of the Sufi lodge (khanqah), and gradually, Islam became embedded.

Eaton concludes: Sufis were the “frontier agents” of Islamisation, expanding Muslim presence without armies, but with ploughs and mosques.Image
3/10 🧵

In North India, the Chishti order is celebrated for “tolerance”.

But K.A. Nizami’s studies (The Life and Times of Shaikh Farid-ud-din Ganj-i-Shakar, 1955; Essays on the Chishti Order, 1972) document how Sufis like Moinuddin Chishti and Nizamuddin Auliya worked closely with Delhi Sultans.

Their shrines, like Ajmer Sharif, became political sanctuaries, legitimising rulers and extending Sultanate influence into society.

The saint provided “moral capital,” the ruler gave patronage.

This symbiosis blurred spiritual charisma with political authority, embedding Islamic rule into local culture.Image
Read 11 tweets
Jul 23
🧵 Who was Swami Vivekananda 🪷, and why does his voice still echo across continents, generations, and civilisations?

A young monk from India🇮🇳stunned the West, reawakened the East, and redefined the soul of India.

His words still burn like fire.

Here’s his story. 👇

A thread.Image
1/

Born in 1863 as Narendranath Datta, he was brilliant, rebellious, and deeply spiritual.

He mastered Western philosophy and devoured the Vedas but remained spiritually restless, until he met Sri Ramakrishna, the saint who didn’t preach God; he lived Him.

“Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is the latest and the most perfect incarnation the world has yet seen.”
(The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - CWSV, Vol. 3)

Renouncing all, he wandered barefoot across India.

He saw a country crushed by poverty but lit by potential.

“Let the common soul awaken,” he believed—not through rituals, but realisation.

He was not content with his own salvation.
His vow: to raise humanity through Vedanta, service, and fearlessness.Image
2/

📍Chicago, 1893. Parliament of Religions

A 30-year-old monk in saffron robes rose and said:

“Sisters and Brothers of America…” (Parliament Address, Sept 11, 1893)

The crowd of 7,000 rose in applause.

“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.” (ibid.)

He didn't preach superiority—he revealed unity.

Quoting the Upanishads, he introduced Advaita Vedanta: the divine is in all beings.

That day, the West didn’t just hear Hinduism.

It heard the heartbeat of an ancient civilisation—alive, radiant, inclusive.Image
Read 12 tweets
Jul 23
🧵 Why is Erdogan furious at Israel’s strikes in Syria?

It’s not just about Gaza.
It’s about power, Islamism, and the collapse of Turkey’s covert influence.

Let's do a deep dive!

A 10-part thread. 👇

Further reading: Cathrin Schaer (DW, 2025) dw.com/en/israel-turk…Image
1/10

Over the past week, Israel expanded its air campaign beyond Gaza and Lebanon: targeting key sites in Syria, including Suwayda, Hama, and the T4 airbase in Homs.

Israel stated the strikes were in response to threats against the Druze minority and to eliminate extremist factions planning cross-border attacks.

But according to Israeli officials, they were also a clear message to Turkey, which has been quietly embedding itself in Syria militarily and ideologically.

Source: Reuters (2025) reuters.com/world/middle-e…Image
2/10

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan erupted:

“May my Lord bring ruin and devastation upon Zionist Israel,” he declared after Eid prayers.
Source: Hindustan Times (On TV, Angry Erdogan 'Declares War' On Israel In Syria As Truce Breaks, IDF Bombs Amid Clash) youtube.com/watch?v=daT_kj…

He condemned Israel as a “terrorist state” and accused it of violating Syria’s sovereignty.

Erdogan then affirmed support for Syria’s territorial integrity, but here’s the irony—Turkey has long occupied northern Syria, funded Islamist rebel groups, and sought to install a pro-Ankara order in the region.

His outrage has little to do with peace, and everything to do with a collapsing regional strategy.
Read 12 tweets
Jul 18
1. What’s happening in Syria—and why is the Druze community in danger?

A humanitarian emergency is unfolding. Syria’s Druze minority, along with Coptic Christians and Shia communities, is under siege.

The culprits?

Islamist extremists, specifically Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Jolani, a former Al-Qaeda commander.

A 🧵

Source: jpost.com/opinion/articl…Image
2. Who is Abu Muhammad al-Jolani?
Why does he matter?

Jolani was the head of Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.

Today, he leads HTS, a jihadi faction that still enforces hardline Islamist rule, despite efforts to rebrand.

His group governs parts of northwest Syria and has a history of persecuting minorities.

Source: Guardian (2024) theguardian.com/world/2024/dec…Image
3. What makes the HTS threat urgent today?

HTS has escalated attacks in recent months, especially in the south (Syria).

Eyewitness reports describe killings, kidnappings, forced disappearances, and religious persecution targeting the Druze and others.

In Suwayda alone, hundreds have been killed in recent weeks.

Source: GZero gzeromedia.com/news/analysis/…Image
Read 12 tweets
Jul 18
🧵 Did the Indus Valley Civilisation descend from migrants—or were its people native to South Asia all along?

A new chapter in Indian school textbooks just shifted the narrative, with ancient DNA from Rakhigarhi offering compelling answers.

Here's why it matters.👇

Shinde et al “An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers.” Cell vol. 179,3 (2019)

1/Image
The Indus Valley Civilization (also called Harappan Civilization) was one of the world's earliest urban societies, contemporary with Mesopotamia and Egbetween ~2600 and ypt.

It flourished in the Indian subcontinent ~2600–1900 BCE, with advanced cities like Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and now Rakhigarhi.

2/

education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/life-…Image
Rakhigarhi, located in modern-day Haryana, India, is the largest known site of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

In 2019, a landmark ancient DNA study (published in Cell and Science) extracted genome data from human remains found there, dating back over 4,500 years.

Source: sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/…

cell.com/cell/fulltext/…
3/Image
Read 14 tweets
Jul 14
Can a stroke trigger a blood clot in your lungs, even without a leg DVT?

As Principal Investigator of the PEARL-AIS (Pulmonary Embolism Assessment and Risk-stratified Learning in Acute Ischaemic Stroke) project, I’m chuffed to share the latest publication from our team @GlobalNeuroLab, which investigates a critical yet often overlooked frontier:

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) in Acute Ischaemic Stroke (AIS)

A Deadly Intersection with profound clinical implications.

A big shout-out to a brilliant member of our team, Darryl Chen!

🧠💥🫁🧠💥🫁

A thread 🧵

1/

Full publication: 🔗 mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/1…

#PEARL_AIS #StrokeCareImage
2/

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is the 3rd leading cause of cardiovascular death worldwide.

In stroke patients, it’s often missed.

🧬Up to 50% of deaths in AIS patients may involve undiagnosed PE.

But traditional tools fall short.

Why?

Because stroke changes everything.Image
3/

Stroke is more than a brain event.

It unleashes a systemic inflammatory storm, activating neutrophils, damaging the lung’s vascular lining, and tipping the body toward clot formation.

👉 Enter our new hypothesis that we proposed in our latest work:

The Brain–Lung Thromboinflammatory Axis.Image
Read 9 tweets

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