Government Official Says US Chief Negotiator Arriving For Day-Long Talk On Bilateral Trade Deal

Trump administration's chief negotiator Brendan Lynch will arrive in India tonight to hold talks on a bilateral deal between Indian and the United States, PTI reported. Both nations have held five rounds of talks with the six one being postponed due to the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods by the US.

"We have indicated that in the past also the discussions are going on, the chief negotiator of the US is visiting India tonight and tomorrow will be holding talks to see what can be the picture It is not the sixth round of negotiations but it is definitely discussions on the trade talks and trying to see how we can reach an agreement between India and the US," Rajesh Agarwal, India's chief negotiator and a special secretary in the commerce ministry said on Monday.

The development comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted warmly to US President Donald Trump's positive assessment of trade talks between the two countries, expressing confidence that the ongoing negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the partnership between them.

"There have been discussions going on but we were not progressing much because the overall environment was not conducive. Now we see there is a window...," the official said.

He highlighted that the talks would serve as a precursor to the sixth round of negotiations between both countries. Lynch, the Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, oversees the development and implementation of US trade policy with regard to 15 countries in the region, including management of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) as well as coordination of activity under Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFAs) with regional partners.

Trump had imposed a 50 percent tariff on India, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. India had described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".

With PTI inputs