Heading towards a landing point: EAM Jaishankar on India-US trade deal negotiations

“I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn’t be comfortable spilling the beans in public. It’s a small select order… When countries negotiate with an economy like the United States, obviously one part of it is what you work out between yourselves and the US, and one part of it is how you fare vis-a-vis competitive economies. That part of it is not entirely clear because not everybody has worked out the deal. I think people, the trade ministers, USTR, and our Commerce and Industry Minister are there, working on that. They’re ironing it out. My sense is that this is an issue which is heading towards a landing point,” Jaishankar said.

The External Affairs Minister also said that the United States had changed the manner and basis on which it engaged with the world, requiring countries to reassess their bilateral relationships.

Jaishankar further explained that India’s relationship with the United States was based on a strategic partnership rather than a formal alliance, adding that the underlying areas of convergence between the two countries had not fundamentally changed.

“I think a lot of what America is revising are its alliances, the terms of its treaty relationships. So the sentiment is most strongly felt vis-a-vis Europe, to some extent, some countries in East Asia. We have many issues we are working on with the United States, but we don’t have an issue of the terms of alliance because we are not officially an ally. We are a country which has a strong strategic partnership with the US, but a strategic partnership is a partnership; it’s not an alliance. In our case, for the last 20-odd years, we have worked out what we felt were convergences, overlaps, shared common interests with the US, and we had agreed that we would pursue that. I don’t think that has fundamentally changed,” he said.

The External Affairs Minister also pointed to Washington’s changing approach towards tariffs, linking it to the US objective of rebuilding its industrial base and resetting the terms of access to its economy.

“The US has a fundamentally different approach to the use of tariffs. But even that is a symptom of something else. The US is today determined to reindustrialise and to reset the terms of access to its economy. That’s what the whole tariff debate is about. And the two are connected: access to the American economy and the reindustrialisation of America. Therefore, what is happening is every significant economy is getting into a negotiation with the United States on this issue. We’re not alone in this. In our case, we are pretty far advanced in that process of negotiation,” Jaishankar added.

Earlier in October, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement between India and the United States are nearing their final phase, though a final announcement is not imminent.

Responding to a question from ANI at the 2026 G20 Trade Ministers Meeting, Greer said talks were in the “short strokes”, an American expression for the final stretch of a task. “I think we’re toward the end of it,” he said.

Greer said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had a “very constructive call” on Wednesday morning, US time, and may speak again soon to assess progress. “My sense is that the President and the Prime Minister may have another call very soon on this just to assess progress and where we are,” he told ANI.

He cautioned against expecting a quick announcement, but said both sides had mapped out the core issues. “I don’t think there’s something imminent, but we truly have identified the universe of items that are sticking points, and we’re working diligently toward them,” Greer said.

Describing his meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Greer said, “We had a very constructive conversation, Minister Goyal and myself. Our staff is meeting right now, since they’re in the country and we’re here. We are continually trying to finish the trade deal with India.”

Goyal met Greer on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee. Sharing details on X, Goyal said he “had a productive discussion with USTR Greer towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement”. (ANI)

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