India and the US are in the final stages of concluding an interim bilateral trade agreement, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump directing officials to expedite its completion.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said India and the United States are in the “final stages” of concluding an interim bilateral trade agreement, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump directing officials to complete the deal at the earliest.
Speaking at a briefing after Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the G7 Summit in Evian, France, Misri said substantial progress has already been made in negotiations and highlighted the upcoming visit of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to advance discussions.
“With the United States, we have made significant progress already on the conclusion of an interim free trade bilateral trade agreement. We are in the final stages of concluding that agreement.
Next week, in fact, the United States Trade Representative, Mr Jamieson Greer, will be visiting India to take forward these discussions. In the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister and President Donald Trump yesterday in Evian, this was a major subject of discussion. Both leaders once again gave instructions for this agreement to be concluded at the earliest possible,” Misri said.
The proposed trade agreement figured prominently in the discussions between PM Modi and Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit on Wednesday. Trump said the two countries were “very close” to finalising the trade deal.
“We had, in particular, some very good conversations with Prime Minister Modi, India. And we’re doing trade deals, we’re doing a lot of things, a lot of things are happening between the United States and India,” Trump said.