The US India trade talks entered a crucial phase on Monday as President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said India was “coming to the negotiating table.” His remarks came ahead of a US delegation’s arrival in Delhi for discussions on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
“Prime Minister Modi sent out a very conciliatory, nice, constructive tweet, and President Trump responded to that. We’ll see how this works,” Navarro told CNBC. He added that India still maintains “the highest tariffs” of any major country and criticized its continued imports of Russian oil.
Last week, Trump said he looked forward to speaking with PM Modi soon, expressing confidence in a successful outcome. PM Modi, in turn, said he was confident the trade negotiations would “unlock the limitless potential” of the India-US partnership.
Navarro also commented on India’s foreign policy, noting that PM Modi may not have felt “comfortable” appearing alongside China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit earlier this month.
Meanwhile, US chief trade negotiator Brendan Lynch arrived in Delhi on Monday to hold key discussions. India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal confirmed that this meeting would not be the sixth round of formal talks but a “precursor” to it.
“Discussions have been ongoing virtually, but progress was slow. Now we see a window of opportunity,” Agarwal said. He stressed that Tuesday’s meeting could shape the roadmap for concluding the long-pending trade deal.
So far, India and the US have completed five rounds of talks, with the sixth postponed after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods, including measures tied to Russian oil purchases.
Both governments now appear determined to move closer to a breakthrough agreement.
