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Informist, Saturday, May 31, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met US Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler and reviewed the progress of India–US bilateral trade agreement during his two-day visit to Washington DC--from Tuesday to Thursday--the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday. The two sides have been engaged in negotiations for the trade deal since February.

 

Apart from the bilateral trade agreement, the two officials also reviewed cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, the ministry said in a statement. Misri also held a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender and discussed ways to deepen coordination in the upcoming Financial Action Task Force processes.

 

"In his meeting with Under Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler, both sides reviewed progress on the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement, cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, and the need to streamline International Traffic in Arms regulations and export control regulations. The Foreign Secretary with Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender discussed ways to deepen coordination in the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) processes," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

 

A bilateral trade agreement with the US is of utmost importance for New Delhi. The US government officials will visit India Jun. 5-6 to discuss the proposed bilateral trade agreement. Last week, Indian government officials, along with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, visited Washington for trade talks.

 

The aim so far has been to seal the deal with the US before Washington's reciprocal tariffs come into effect on Jul. 9. However, after the US Court of International Trade's verdict to halt the tariffs, there is a possibility that India will slow the pace of negotiations and recalibrate the terms of the deal. The US is India's top export destination with $80.77 billion outbound shipments in 2024.

 

The external affairs ministry said that Misri's visit was a follow-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US on Feb. 13 during which both sides launched the India-US COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century. Both countries had resolved to enhance trade ties and set a new goal of $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030. Both sides recognised that fair trade terms are imperative to reach the target of $500 billion bilateral trade and announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025.

 

Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump also announced plans to sign a new 10-year framework for the US-India major defence partnership in the 21st century.  End

 

US$1 = INR 85.58

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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