US, India will eventually unite on issues: Bessent

A top Trump administration official said on Wednesday that the India-US relationship is “very complicated” but added he believes the two sides will “eventually come together”.

- Shashank Mattoo

The comments by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who claimed America has an upper hand in the trade negotiations that have now run aground, came within hours of Washington's additional 25% tariff rate on Indian goods — meant to punish New Delhi for its purchase of Russian oil - coming into force.

“I do think India is the world’s largest democracy and the US is the world’s largest economy. At the end of the day, we will come together,” Bessent said in a television interview, while acknowledging tensions over trade and Russia. He reiterated his earlier statements, where he accused India of “profiteering” off Russian energy sales and “tapping us along” on trade talks.

“This is a very complicated relationshi,” he said, but added: “President Trump [and] Prime Minister Modi have very good relationships at that level," while speaking to Fox Business.

Bessent expressed frustration with the pace of trade negotiations, saying he had expected a deal with India to be among the first Washington would sign.

"The Indians came in very early after Liberation Day to start negotiating on tariffs, and we still don't have a deal," he said, referring to April 2 when Trump announced sweeping global tariffs.