The White House reaffirmed India's pivotal position as a strategic partner within the Indo-Pacific, while indicating that the much-awaited free trade agreement between New Delhi and Washington is on the verge of finalization.
Addressing the media, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted the robust bilateral relationship and the enduring significance of India in U.S. foreign policy.
"India is a very strategic partner in the Asia Pacific and the President enjoys an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and he will continue to do so," Leavitt said, responding to a query from news agency ANI on China's growing influence in the region.
On the trade front, Leavitt assured that the negotiations are well under way. "The President last week said (that the US and India are very near a trade deal), and it is true. I just spoke with our Secretary of Commerce about that. He was in the Oval Office with the President.". They are negotiating these agreements, and you will be hearing from the President and his trade team shortly when it comes to India," she further added.
Her remarks follow India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's visit to the United States for the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. In his travel, Jaishankar also unveiled an exhibition at the United Nations entitled The Human Cost of Terrorism, which speaks to the world-wide consequences of state-sponsored terrorism.
The Quad—consisting of the United States, India, Japan, and Australia—serves as a strategic forum intended to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Meanwhile, ex-U.S. President Donald Trump recently commented on trade relations between the U.S. and India, saying that the U.S. is working very hard to break down current trade barriers and achieve better market access.
"India, I think we are going to come to a deal where we have the right to go and do trade. It's restricted now. You can't go in there, you can't even think about it.". We are hoping to get a complete trade barrier falling, which is not possible and I don't know that that's going to occur. But as of today, we concur that going to India and trade," Trump said last month.
As diplomatic and economic relations continue to strengthen, the U.S.-India relationship seems to be on the verge of a new era, with a large trade agreement potentially being a landmark deal in the near horizon.
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