TRADE COMPACT: INDIA AND THE U.S. HAVE SET AN AMBITIOUS BILATERAL TRADE TARGET. BUT THERE ARE CHALLENGES.

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI'S meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on February 13 ended with the leaders setting a $500-billion annual bilateral trade target to be achieved in the next five years. Given that annual India-U.S. trade in goods and services is currently less than $200 billion, and that the Trump regime is all set to unleash a tariff war on its trading partners, including India, it's a tall task.

- BY JOE C. MATHEW

The leaders also set out a broad plan to achieve the target through an initiative called the 'U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century' to drive change across key pillars of cooperation: defence, energy security, technology and innovation, trade and investment, etc.