A cornucopia of factors has stymied progress toward the long-anticipated trade deal between the United States and India this year, including the recent passage of legislation aimed at punishing purchasers of Russian oil—a development that could see the South Asian nation saddled with American tariffs of up to 100 percent.
While trade tensions between the two nations have ranged from tepid to red hot, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to President Donald Trump by phone on Wednesday, saying the two had a “productive” conversation—the first overture from either side since the Sanctioning Russia Act was signed into law on Sept. 18.
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“We reviewed our bilateral cooperation in trade, defence [sic], energy, critical technologies and other areas. We agreed to maintain close engagement to take our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership forward,” Modi wrote on X after the call.
“We also exchanged views on regional and international issues, including ongoing efforts to advance global peace and security,” he added, almost certainly referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The public assurance that trade talks haven’t veered irrevocably off the rails comes after India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar offered his own brusque evaluation of the relationship at an Asia Society event after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) New York this week.
He said Monday that America’s “self-centered” trade policies have made life “difficult” for countries like India and others in the Global South, according to a report from Al Jazeera.
Over the past year, India has faced tariffs of up to 50 percent from the U.S. The rate was drawn down to 25 percent in February as the two nations worked toward the completion of the strategic partnership arrangement, but India pulled back from negotiations after Trump’s preeminent tariff scheme was unraveled by the Supreme Court in February, injecting fresh uncertainty into the talks and giving the U.S. more time and motivation to scrutinize India’s ties to Russia.
Jaishankar noted this week that New Delhi has also been troubled by “the issue of terrorism,” saying it’s contributed to the iciness of the relationship with Washington.
India and Pakistan engaged in armed conflict in May 2025, with India claiming that Pakistani nationals or militants killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, 2025. A ceasefire was brokered, and Trump took credit for it, repeating the assertion that he’d brought the fighting to an end as recently as this week. India’s government has pushed back on the claims.
“Now, if something which matters so deeply to us, there isn’t enough understanding or appreciation or empathy of that, I think that creates a problem too,” Jaishankar said of the situation.
He pointed to other major pain points in negotiations with the U.S., including its refusal to open up its agricultural market as a part of the bilateral trade agreement. However, despite these challenges, Jaishankar expressed hope that a deal would soon be reached, as it “would contribute to a better relationship” with the U.S.
The foreign minister’s frank assessment of the relationship’s continued pain points differs from that of Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who said in no uncertain terms last week that trade negotiations had entered the end zone. On Thursday, the official said the nation had recently finalized nine free trade agreements with other nations, “and I include the U.S., which is almost done and dusted.”
The truth of the nations’ relationship status? It’s complicated.
But Modi appears motivated to change the trajectory. In addition to speaking with Trump this week, the prime minister is expected to attend the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Florida at the Trump National Doral Miami hotel in December, as he’ll already be in North America fine tuning India’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Canada with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a head of state for whom Trump possesses far less affection.
Modi has attended every G20 leadership summit for the past 12 years, and meeting with Trump on his home turf may finally seal the deal.
