An American negotiating team is expected to visit India in June to advance talks on an interim bilateral trade agreement, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. a day after US ambassador Sergio Gor met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss strengthening economic ties.
Gor described his meeting with Sitharaman as “excellent” and said discussion focused on advancing the US-India economic partnership. “From trade and investment to technology, defense, and critical minerals, our two democracies achieve more when we work together,” he said in a post on X.
The ambassador’s remarks came ahead of US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to India from May 23 and the expected visit of the US trade negotiating team next month. The proposed visit follows talks held in Washington in April, when an Indian negotiating team met American counterparts for an in-person discussion on the trade deal.
Asked whether Rubio would be accompanied by trade negotiators, Goyal said the negotiating team would not travel with the secretary of state, “but there is some plan for them to come next month”. Rubio is also expected to discuss cooperation in areas such as trade, defence and energy during his four-day India visit.
India and the US are negotiating an interim BTA under a revised tariff framework after reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were struck down by the US Supreme Court on February 20. Earlier on May 15, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal described bilateral trade talks as positive and said both countries were working towards concluding a deal at an opportune time.
Following Wednesday’s meeting between Sitharaman and Gor, the finance ministry said the two discussed deepening India-US economic and financial partnership, fintech collaboration, investment opportunities and bilateral cooperation. Sitharaman also congratulated the ambassador on the upcoming 250th anniversary of US independence, the ministry said in a post on X.
Speaking at the annual leadership summit of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Goyal highlighted India’s economic growth prospects and said the country remained among the world’s most attractive investment destinations despite global uncertainties.
“With 1.4 billion aspirational Indians and a strong ecosystem driven by innovation, R&D and enterprise, India will continue to remain one of the world’s fastest-growing economies,” he said.
Goyal said several major American companies had announced investments in India and estimated commitments from US industry over the past six months at more than $60 billion.
“Look at the Amazon data centre commitment, Google data centre commitments. My gut feeling is that America and India truly are working as natural partners. We complement each other,” he said.
