India and the United States reiterated their mutual commitment to concluding a bilateral trade agreement quickly, despite increasing global trade uncertainty following Washington's recent tariff actions.
Negotiations between Washington and New Delhi have gained pace in recent weeks, especially after President Donald Trump imposed a 26 percent reciprocal tariff on imports from India. This move comes under a broader U.S. policy to renegotiate trade terms with practically all its worldwide partners.
After a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar posted an update on social media. "Discussed the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Subcontinent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean," he posted on X.
"Agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement," Jaishankar posted, ascertaining that both governments would maintain lines of communication open.
This conversation is the first publicly acknowledged discussion between top officials of both countries since Trump's tariff statement last week.
An official transcript of the discussion from the American side has yet to be released.
Unlike China, which retaliated on Friday with a 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods, India has so far refrained from retaliating with countermeasures. Other American trading partners like Japan and Vietnam have also followed a similar path of diplomatic outreach. Indeed, Vietnam has offered to remove its tariffs altogether as a gesture of goodwill to maintain healthy trade relations.
President Trump commented on the wider context of these trade negotiations in a Truth Social message, his own media site:
World countries are speaking with us. Strong but reasonable conditions are being established. Spoke with the Japanese Prime Minister today. He is sending his top people to make a deal! They have not treated the US fairly on trade. They do not accept our cars, but we accept millions of theirs. Same with agriculture, and far more. It all must be changed, but particularly with China!!!";
In the afternoon, Trump will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting, billed as President Trump's first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader on the new tariff regime, occurs as Israel is hit with a 17 percent tariff despite its robust defense relationship with the U.S.
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