"India Coming To The Table": Top Trump Aide Ahead Of Trade Talks

President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday said that India was "coming to the negotiating table", a remark that came ahead of a US team arriving in Delhi to hold key talks with Indian officials on the bilateral trade deal.

"India is coming to the table. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi sent out a very conciliatory, nice, constructive tweet, and President (Donald) Trump responded to that. We'll see how this works," he told CNBC.

Last week, Mr Trump said that India and the US are "continuing negotiations to address the trade barriers".

"I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks. I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both our countries," he posted on Truth Social.

In response, PM Modi said that he was "confident that our trade negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-US partnership". India and the US are "close friends and natural partners", he wrote on X. 

"Our teams are working to conclude these discussions at the earliest. I am also looking forward to speaking with President Trump. We will work together to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for both our people," PM Modi said.

Mr Navarro, who has in the past called India "the Maharaja of tariffs", reiterated that India has the "highest tariffs" of any major country. 

"They have very high non-tariff barriers. We had to deal with that, like we're dealing with every other country that does that," he said.

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He also criticised India for buying Russian oil, saying it never did so before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022. 

"The Indian refiners got in bed with the Russian refiners immediately after the invasion, and they're making out like bandits. It's crazy stuff because they make money off of us in unfair trade. So American workers get screwed. 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 the defence of Ukraine," Mr Navarro said.

He also said that PM Modi wouldn't have felt "comfortable" sharing the stage with China's Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

"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 said, referring to the three leaders meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on September 1.

US Chief Trade Negotiator In Delhi

Mr Navarro's remarks came hours before US chief negotiator Brendan Lynch arrived in Delhi on Monday for a day-long talk on the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

New Delhi and Washington have so far held five rounds of negotiations. The sixth round of talks, scheduled from August 25-29, was postponed after Mr Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including 25 per cent for purchasing Russian oil.

"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.

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He further said India and the US have been engaged in discussions through virtual mode on a weekly basis.

"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...," Mr Agarwal said.

He, however, added that Tuesday's talks should not be seen as a 6th round of talks, but it may decide on the future course of action.

"Tomorrow's talks will be a precursor to the sixth round of negotiations," Mr Agarwal said.