Swimming in aid, new and exotic (6)

I believe the answer is:

indian

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'exotic' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are adjectives, I can't see how they can define each other.

'swimming in aid new' is the wordplay.
'swimming' indicates anagramming the letters.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'in'+'aid'='inaid'
'inaid' is an anagram of 'india'.
'india'+'n'='INDIAN'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for indian that I've seen before include "One from the sub-continent" , "Eg, native of Delhi" , "National" , "One type of elephant" , "American originally" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.

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