PM Narendra Modi’s short statement assumes greater significance as it followed a perceived breakthrough in the bilateral talks that have been on a roller coaster ride for months.
Even as the US team was in India, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Congress that his country received an offer from India that was “the best we’ve ever received as a country,” and that the Indian side had been “quite forward leaning.”
This was also first call between the two leaders since Modi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a bilateral Summit.
US president Donald Trump spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, even as negotiators from both countries wrapped up two-day talks here to finalise the contours of the initial tranche of an elusive bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
Modi described the conversation with Trump as “warm and engaging.”
He said he and the US President “reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments,” without an explicit reference to the BTA or the punitive US tariff being levied on Indian exports. “India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity,” the prime minister posted on X.
Earlier in the day, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran told Bloomberg in an interview that he would be surprised if the trade deal with the US isn’t signed by March.
Most trade-related issues have been resolved, he suggested.
“I was hoping something would be done by the end of November, but it has turned out to be elusive,” Nageswaran said. “That’s why it is difficult to give a timeline on this.
However, I would be surprised if we don’t have it sealed by the end of the financial year.”
The US team to New Delhi was led by Deputy USTR Rick Switzer and included Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia and chief negotiator for the BTA from the US side. It is strategically a vital development that Trump and PM Modi spoke over phone within days of Russian president Vladimir Putin's visit to India.
This was Putin’s 10th visit to India since he assumed power 25 years ago, and his 20th meeting with Modi since the latter became prime minister in 2014.
The visit had 'symbolism' and some substance of the Indo-Russia relationship.
Putin pledged “uninterrupted fuel supplies” to India, the country’a companies are buying less Russian oil in the face of US tariffs and sanctions.
Russia and India concluded a string of memorandums of understanding in areas from migration and mobility to health and food security, maritime cooperation, fertilisers, customs, and academic and media collaboration.
But the anticipated announcements on major defence deals did not happen. India has not concluded any major defence deals with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
This has been fuelled by delays in the delivery of several platforms and spare parts as Moscow has prioritised its own defence needs.
New Delhi has sought to diversify its defence imports and strengthen its domestic production.
This all suggests that the India-Russia relationship does not hold the same geopolitical heft it once did. During the cold war, India maintained preferential barter arrangements and market access to the Soviet Union and its satellite states, says an article in 'The Guardian'.
India's goods exports to the US rose for the first time in five months in October, jumping 14.5% from September, even as Donald Trump's steep tariffs remain in place.
Exports to India's largest foreign market had dropped sharply last month after 50% US tariffs on India - including a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil - kicked in on 27 August.
The improved data came as Indian state-run oil firms agreed to import more annual liquified petroleum gas (LPG) from the US and Trump exempted many farm goods from reciprocal tariffs that could benefit India.
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