'Going to have a good deal': Trump on India-US trade deal, says has "great respect" for PM Modi

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed confidence over the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), noting that the two countries are "going to have a good deal", while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a close friend and respected leader.

Trump made this comment while speaking to Moneycontrol, following his address at the 56th Annual Summit of the World Economic Forum.

"I have great respect for your Prime Minister. He's a fantastic man and a friend of mine, and we are going to have a good deal," Trump said when asked about the India-US trade deal by Moneycontrol.


Earlier, India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal asserted that the much-anticipated first tranche of the India-US BTA is "very near", but stopped short of providing a timeline.

The BTA, formally proposed in February following directives from the leadership of both nations, seeks to more than double bilateral trade, from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.

Talks were first announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in February 2025.

On January 9, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "India and the United States were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US as far as far back as 13th of February last year. That is, since then, two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement."

"On several occasions, we have been close to a deal," the MEA spokesperson added.