India, US eye ‘early mutual wins’ in bilateral trade talks

New Delhi: India signalled the possibility of “early mutual wins” in its negotiations with the US, as the two nations inch closer to sealing the first tranche of a trade deal by fall of this year.

A team of officials, led by India’s chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last week to advance discussions on the trade pact. The two nations discussed the roadmap for a “mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by fall of 2025, including through opportunities for early mutual wins,” India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Tuesday.

This follows earlier bilateral discussions held in March 2025 in New Delhi.

While productive sectoral expert-level engagements have taken place through the virtual format, in-person sectoral engagements are planned from the end of May, the statement said.

The productive discussions are part of bilateral efforts in line with the Leaders’ Statement of February 2025 to enhance and expand India-US economic ties and supply chain integration through the Bilateral Trade Agreement, it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Washington in February this year, held talks with US President Donald Trump on negotiating the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall of 2025.

The two leaders resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – ‘Mission 500’ – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.