India 'not desperate' to seal early tranche of trade deal with US

India is not desperate to conclude an early-tranche trade deal with the United States by the July 9 deadline when the Donald Trump administration's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs is expected to end, but both sides are positively engaged towards a pact despite challenges, a government official said on Monday.

- ASIT RANJAN MISHRA

"It is difficult to say whether a deal will be signed by April 9 or not. It takes two to tango. I don't think any country will be desperate to have a trade deal. We would like to have a good, win-win and positive trade deal with the US. Both sides will like to have a balanced deal," the official said.

This signals the evolving thinking within the government not to go out of its way to please the US in fear of the reciprocal tariffs that are likely to kick in early next month. "India's interest is always supreme," a second official said.

Asked about President Trump's announcement that he would soon inform each trading partner how much tariff will be applicable on them post July 9, the first official said he doesn't know how different it would be from the April 2 reciprocal tariff announcement.