New Delhi, India — India and the United States held high-level talks in New Delhi on Sunday to review progress on their long-pending trade agreement, with the war in Ukraine also featuring prominently in discussions.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with the US ambassador to India and a delegation from the US Congress to review multiple aspects of the bilateral relationship, including trade, cooperation in critical technologies, and regional security.
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According to statements released by both sides after the meeting, the talks also covered the conflict in Ukraine and developments in the Indo-Pacific region.
The war in Ukraine has become a central element in the broader negotiating landscape, as geopolitical differences over the conflict have strained recent commercial ties.
These tensions have slowed momentum on a deal that, early in the new US administration, appeared close to completion.
“Discussed various aspects of India US ties, Indo Pacific and Ukraine conflict. Congressional interactions have always been an important facet of our relationship,” Jaishankar wrote on social media platform X on Sunday.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor later described the meeting as productive and highlighted both sides’ willingness to strengthen cooperation in key areas, including the supply of rare earths and other critical minerals.
The meeting comes as New Delhi and Washington seek to resolve the final obstacles to a long-negotiated bilateral trade agreement, particularly over sensitive tariff issues and the pact’s implementation timeline.
Gor acknowledged upon his arrival in India on January 12 that concluding an agreement of this scale would not be an “easy task,” a challenge that has shaped the bilateral agenda since Donald Trump’s return to the White House nearly a year ago.
While the agreement initially appeared imminent in the early months of the new US administration, trade relations cooled in August when Washington imposed 50 percent tariffs on certain Indian exports in response to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.
Those tariffs have put pressure on key sectors such as textiles and pharmaceuticals, among the most sensitive areas in the bilateral trade relationship.
The meeting also coincides with the visit to New Delhi of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other senior EU officials, during a week in which India and the European Union are widely expected to conclude their own free trade agreement as early as Tuesday.
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