External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) on Monday.
The Jaishankar-Rubio Bilateral Trade Agreement talks took place just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced major tariffs on several nations, including India.
The U.S. imposed 26 percent tariffs on all Indian imports.
After the meeting, S. Jaishankar wrote on X: “Good to speak with @SecRubio today.”
“Exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Sub-continent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean,” he said.
“Agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. Look forward to remaining in touch,” Jaishankar said.
U.S. Secretary of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the two leaders affirmed the strength of the U.S.-India strategic partnership and discussed opportunities to deepen collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.
“They also discussed U.S. reciprocal tariffs on India and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship,” Bruce said.
This was the first high-level contact between India and the US since Trump announced tariffs on April 2.
India-US Trade Agreement
As a follow up to the India-U.S. Joint Statement of 13 February 2025, wherein the two sides agreed to expand bilateral trade to reach $ 500 Billion by 2030, including through the conclusion of a Bilateral Trade Agreement, representatives of India’s Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative convened in New Delhi from 26-29 March 2025.
In order to realise the shared objective of promoting growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation, both sides have through four-days of discussions in New Delhi broadly come to an understanding on the next steps towards a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), with the goal to finalise its first tranche by fall 2025.
“Sectoral expert level engagements under the BTA will start virtually in the coming weeks and pave the path for an early negotiating round in person. During these discussions, the two sides also had a productive exchange of views on deepening bilateral cooperation in priority areas, including increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and deepening supply chain integration in a mutually beneficial manner,” the Indian government said in a statement last month.
The meeting in New Delhi followed the visit of Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal to Washington, D.C., from March 4-6, 2025, during which he met his U.S. counterparts – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and subsequent video conferences between the two sides.
(With inputs from IBNS)
