‘India Coming to the Table’: Trump aide Navarro ahead of trade talks

Hours before the bilateral trade negotiations between India and the United States were set to resume on Tuesday, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro remarked that India was coming forward to engage with Washington. “India is coming to the table. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out a very conciliatory, nice, constructive tweet, and President Trump responded to that. We’ll see how this works,” Navarro said.
Navarro noted that discussions between the two nations were still ongoing, particularly on the issue of trade barriers. At the same time, he criticised India for its ties with Russia and China, questioning New Delhi’s position on energy purchases from Moscow. “Then they use that money to buy Russian oil, and then the Russians use that to buy weapons. And then we, as taxpayers, have to pay more for this, for the defence of Ukraine. And so how can that be? And watching Modi on a stage with China, which has been its long-term existential threat, and Putin, that was an interesting stretch. I don’t think he felt comfortable doing it,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, a delegation of United States officials arrived in New Delhi on Monday to resume negotiations for a trade agreement following recent positive exchanges between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The delegation, led by Brendan Lynch, the Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, landed in New Delhi after a visit to Dhaka. Lynch and his team are scheduled to meet Indian counterparts on Tuesday to give fresh momentum to the long-stalled bilateral trade talks.