India, US aim to seal trade deal soon

India and the US are looking toward the early conclusion of an interim trade agreement and an American delegation is expected to travel to New Delhi soon to advance the process and reach an understanding that serves the national interests of both sides, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his US counterpart Marco Rubio said on Sunday.

- Rezaul H Laskar

Few signs of forward movement have appeared since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump announced on February 2 that the two sides were close to a trade deal, including the slashing of American tariffs on Indian exports. Though the Trump administration’s attention has been occupied by the West Asia crisis, India and the US have continued talks to conclude a trade deal.

Jaishankar emphasised the importance of an early understanding on the trade deal at a joint news conference with Rubio, and expressed the hope that a US team will come to India soon to move the process along. “On the economic front, we spoke about the value of concluding, at an early date, the final text of the interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade,” Jaishankar said.

This, he said, will be an important step toward a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement, as envisaged during Modi’s talks with Trump during a visit to Washington in February 2025. “We had a team recently in Washington and our expectation is that an American team will be visiting India soon,” he said.