Minister Jaishankar: India, US Yet to Solve Trade Issues
Speaking at the Kautilya Dialogue in New Delhi, Jaishankar said, “We have not arrived at a landing ground for our trade discussions.
New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday said that India and the United States have yet to find common ground on trade issues and described the tariffs imposed on India by Washington as “unfair.”
Speaking at the Kautilya Dialogue in New Delhi, Jaishankar said, “We have not arrived at a landing ground for our trade discussions. The inability to do so has led to certain tariffs being levied on India. In addition, there is a second tariff that we regard as very unfair, which penalises us for sourcing energy from Russia.”
He, however, cautioned against viewing the dispute as a breakdown in ties, saying, “There are issues, but they need to be discussed and resolved. Much of the relationship continues as usual, and in some areas, cooperation is expanding.”
On the Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan, and Australia, the minister said, “It is alive and well. This year we had two meetings, one in January and one in July, and its bureaucratic structure continues.”
The remarks come amid ongoing India-US negotiations over a bilateral trade pact and the 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US in August, partly as a penalty for India’s import of Russian oil. While commerce minister Piyush Goyal and Jaishankar both held talks in Washington last month, no breakthrough has been reached.
India is expected to host the Quad Summit later this year, though uncertainty remains due to trade tensions and New Delhi’s continued ties with Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India in December.
