A team of US officials will arrive in India on Monday night for trade deal discussions, signaling the two nations are moving closer to resolving differences.
India and the US have been “engaged virtually” and officials from Washington will be in New Delhi for a day, the South Asian nation’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal told reporters at a briefing on Monday. “We will be holding talks tomorrow to see what will be the future” of trade negotiations, he added.
Brendan Lynch, assistant trade representative for South and Central Asia, is leading the US delegation.
The two nations are resuming trade talks weeks after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on India to 50%, the highest in Asia, penalizing the country for its trade barriers and purchases of Russian oil. Trump has said he will speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming weeks.
US defense officials and Boeing Co. executives are also due in India this week to negotiate the sale of about $4 billion of naval surveillance aircraft.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters Monday there was a “positive frame of mind” from both sides regarding the trade issues under negotiation. Talks are also taking place in other parts of the government, including on diplomatic and ministerial levels, he said.
Even though India was among the first nations to start trade talks with the Trump administration, the two sides failed to reach a deal after five rounds of discussions. New Delhi’s ties with Moscow and its refusal to open dairy and agriculture markets are among the reasons the talks have stalled.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this month that India and the US continue to enjoy strong ties and there is no need to panic over delays in trade talks.
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