External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently underscored that any trade agreement between India and the United States must unequivocally respect New Delhi’s “red lines.” He confirmed that both nations are actively working towards a “landing ground” for a mutually beneficial deal, even as bilateral ties face tensions over Washington’s current tariff policies.
During an engaging interactive session at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Jaishankar openly addressed the existing challenges between India and the U.S., attributing many of them to the prolonged inability to finalize a comprehensive trade pact. He stressed the paramount importance of forging a trade understanding, given the U.S.’s status as the world’s largest market, while reiterating India’s firm stance on safeguarding its core interests.
“We are currently facing significant issues with the United States,” Jaishankar stated. “A substantial part of this stems from our stalled trade discussions, which have regrettably resulted in specific tariffs being imposed on India.” He further highlighted another tariff, deemed “very unfair” by India, which penalizes the country for its energy procurement from Russia, despite other nations with more adversarial relationships with Moscow also engaging in similar practices.
These remarks come amidst considerable strain in New Delhi-Washington relations, following reports that the U.S. President doubled tariffs on Indian goods, reaching up to 50%, alongside an additional 25% duty specifically for India’s Russian crude oil purchases. India has consistently labeled these U.S. actions as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”
“Regardless of the obstacles, a trade understanding with the U.S. is essential,” Jaishankar affirmed, emphasizing the global significance of the American market and the numerous agreements other countries have already secured. “However, such an understanding must honour our fundamental principles and ‘red lines.’ In any negotiation, certain aspects are flexible, while others are simply non-negotiable.”
Jaishankar concluded by expressing India’s clear and unwavering approach: “Our position is quite clear. We must ultimately reach a common ground, a conversation that has been ongoing since March.”
India and the U.S. have recently resumed negotiations for the proposed trade deal, following a brief interruption.
The External Affairs Minister also suggested that despite these specific points of contention, the overall relationship between the two nations largely continues either “as business as usual or, in some cases, is even expanding beyond previous levels.” He reassured, “While problems and issues exist, and we are not in denial of them, these are subjects for negotiation and resolution, which is precisely what we are endeavoring to achieve. I would caution against over-interpreting these specific issues as impacting every facet of our broad engagement.”