India and the United States will hold fast-tracked trade talks in New Delhi on Tuesday after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India is “coming to the table,” weeks after Washington imposed higher tariffs on Indian exports.
Navarro said India had agreed to engage in discussions after tensions escalated over tariffs. His remarks came as the two countries prepared for negotiations aimed at easing trade frictions that recently pushed India’s exports to a nine-month low in August.
Rajesh Agarwal, India’s chief negotiator and special secretary in the commerce ministry, confirmed the planned talks. “India and the United States will ‘fast-track’ trade talks,” he told reporters during an event to release trade data, though he declined to provide further details.
Agarwal added that Brendan Lynch, the US trade representative for South Asia, would be in New Delhi on Tuesday for a one-day visit to participate in the discussions.
Navarro had previously taken a sharper tone. In an interview last week, he warned that India “must come around” in the trade negotiations or risk facing negative consequences.
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He described India as the “Maharajah of tariffs” and argued that it maintained the highest tariff levels among major economies against the United States.
He also criticised India’s energy purchases from Moscow, claiming that the country had not bought oil from Russia “except for like little tiny drops of it” before the Ukraine conflict.
“And then they go into this mode of profiteering, with Russian refiners coming on to Indian soil and profiteering,” Navarro said, adding that the situation forced American taxpayers to bear greater costs for the war.
Last month, Washington doubled tariffs on Indian exports to 50 per cent, citing India’s continued imports of Russian crude despite pressure to scale back. US President Donald Trump dismissed India’s counter-offer to cut tariffs on American goods to zero, calling it “too late.”
Despite the tensions, there have been recent signs of easing rhetoric. Trump last week referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great Prime Minister” and said he would “always be friends” with him. Modi responded swiftly, saying he “deeply appreciates and fully reciprocates” Trump’s sentiments.
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