India and the United States are close to sealing their long-pending trade agreement, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in New Delhi on Tuesday evening. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, he said the negotiations were "heading towards a landing point", though he stopped short of giving a date or revealing what is still holding up the final signature.
"I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn't be comfortable spilling the beans in public," Jaishankar said in a conversation with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. The trade negotiators, he added, are "ironing it out".
What Jaishankar said on the India-US trade deal
The minister's remarks were the most upbeat official signal in several weeks on a pact that has been under negotiation since early 2025. He said the talks are being steered by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indian side and the office of the US Trade Representative on the American side.
Jaishankar also pointed out that India is not the only country trying to work out new terms with Washington. "We're not alone in this. In our case, we are pretty far advanced in that process of negotiation," he said. Part of the outcome, he suggested, depends on how India's terms compare with those offered to competing economies, since not every country has closed its own deal yet.
"A partnership, not an alliance"
Beyond the trade numbers, the minister spoke about how the relationship itself is changing. He said the US has "a fundamentally different approach to the use of tariffs" today and is "determined to re-industrialise and to reset the terms of access to its economy". Every country, he argued, now has to recalculate its relationship with Washington.
On India's position, he was clear that New Delhi is not a formal US ally. "A strategic partnership is a partnership; it's not an alliance," he said, adding that the shared interests built up over roughly two decades have not fundamentally changed.
Background: a deal that keeps getting "close"
The India-US trade pact has had a bumpy ride. Relations dipped sharply in 2025 after Washington slapped punitive tariffs on Indian goods. In February 2026, the two countries announced a framework for the first phase of an agreement. Then the ground shifted again: the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's emergency-power reciprocal tariffs, Washington moved to a new tariff framework, and the talks had to be reopened.
In July 2026, the US imposed an additional 10% tariff on Indian imports under Section 301 of its Trade Act. At the end of September, Jaishankar said in New York that the two sides had "more or less an understanding" but that the Section 301 process was "still unfolding". Around the same time, Goyal described the pact as "done and dusted", saying it would be signed once India gets a competitive edge over rival exporters in the US market.
Not every signal has been as positive. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said about a week ago that the talks had hit a "plateau". US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who met Goyal on the sidelines of the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee earlier this month, said the two sides were "toward the end of it" but warned that an announcement was not imminent.
| Key point | Details |
|---|---|
| Who spoke | EAM S. Jaishankar |
| Where | Bloomberg New Economy Forum, New Delhi |
| When | Tuesday, October 13, 2026 |
| Main message | Talks "heading towards a landing point" |
| Lead negotiators | Piyush Goyal (India), USTR Jamieson Greer (US) |
| Talks began | Early 2025 |
| Phase-1 framework | Announced February 2026 |
| Extra US tariff | 10% under Section 301, imposed July 2026 |
What the deal could mean for India
The United States is one of India's largest export markets, so the terms matter well beyond diplomacy. Exporters of textiles, engineering goods, gems and jewellery, and farm products have been squeezed by the extra tariffs, and many small manufacturers have been waiting for clarity before signing new orders.
India's central demand has been simple: tariffs on its goods should be better than those faced by rivals such as ASEAN nations, China and Bangladesh. If that is achieved, Indian products could become more price-competitive on American shelves. A deal could also ease uncertainty for companies already worried about the higher H-1B visa fee and changes to US immigration rules that have affected Indian IT firms.
For consumers at home, the effect is likely to be more gradual. Any market access India gives in return, on certain industrial goods or farm items, will be watched closely, given the government's stated position on protecting small farmers and producers.
What happens next
Neither side has announced a signing date. Greer has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump held a "very constructive" call and could speak again to review progress, which suggests the final push may happen at the leaders' level. Until then, Indian officials are likely to keep their cards close, as Jaishankar did on Tuesday.
Commerce Minister Goyal, meanwhile, has repeatedly pointed out that India has signed trade pacts covering 38 developed nations in the past few years, as New Delhi works to widen market access for its businesses. A finished deal with Washington would be the biggest piece of that puzzle.
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