India, US welcome progress made in Bilateral Trade Agreement

India and US welcomed the significant progress made for a mutually beneficial India-U.S. bilateral trade agreement focused on the welfare of the people of the two countries. The discussion was held during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting US Vice President J D Vance in New Delhi on Monday evening. The Prime Minister fondly recalled his visit to Washington D.C. in February this year and his fruitful discussions with President Trump, which laid down the roadmap for close cooperation between India and the U.S., leveraging the strengths of Make America Great Again (MAGA) and Viksit Bharat 2047. Modi and Vance reviewed and positively assessed the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation. They also noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defence, strategic technologies and other areas. The two leaders also exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest and called for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward. Mr Modi extended his best wishes to the Vice President, Second Lady and their children for a pleasant and productive stay in India. The Prime Minister conveyed his warm greetings to President Trump and said that he is looking forward to his visit to India later this year.
New Delhi and Washington are holding negotiations to seal a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) as agreed during Modi's talks with Trump in Washington DC in February. The trade pact is expected to address a variety of issues including tariff and market access. India is looking at firming up the first tranche of the trade pact before Trump's pause on the customised reciprocal tariffs lapses.The Indian readout said Modi and Vance "reviewed and positively assessed" the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation. "They welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement focused on the welfare of the people of the two countries," it said. "Likewise, they noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defence, strategic technologies and other areas," it noted.
The White House said Vance and Modi welcomed "significant progress" in the negotiations for the trade pact and formally announced the "finalisation of the terms of reference" for the negotiations, laying down a roadmap for further discussions about our economic priorities.