‘It's never done till it's done’: Jaishankar on India-US trade deal

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said India and the US were moving towards finalising a bilateral trade deal, but cautioned that the remaining stages of negotiations could still pose challenges.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had also indicated that the agreement was nearing completion.

“It's never done till it's done,” Jaishankar said, adding that the negotiating teams were working through the outstanding issues.


“What you've heard not just from Secretary Rubio, but from Minister Piyush Goyal, from others, from me, is that we are moving towards it. But, as I said, often the last mile or the penultimate miles do pose their challenges. I think the teams are working through them now,” he said.

Jaishankar declined to disclose the specific issues that remained unresolved, saying they were for the negotiating teams to address.

US President Donald Trump has also said the agreement is “pretty close”, while Rubio indicated earlier this week that the two countries were nearing a conclusion after discussions with Jaishankar in Mumbai.

“We are about as close as you can be without having an executed agreement. I think there's a small number of items left to wrap up,” Rubio told reporters, adding that the two sides hoped to announce progress soon, potentially paving the way for the leaders to sign the agreement.

India and the US have been negotiating a bilateral trade arrangement for more than a year, with discussions covering market access, tariffs, agricultural commodities, industrial goods and regulatory barriers.

Jaishankar also highlighted the need for countries to diversify their trade and energy partnerships amid growing global uncertainty.

“Countries can no longer take stability in trade, energy, and geopolitics for granted, as the world has become increasingly turbulent and unpredictable,” he said, stressing that governments and businesses must build resilient strategies rather than depend excessively on a single source.

He pointed to uncertainty surrounding trade, energy supplies, sanctions, conflicts and resource restrictions as factors prompting countries to reassess their sourcing strategies.

During his meeting with Rubio in Mumbai earlier this week, Jaishankar discussed ways to advance bilateral ties, including cooperation in trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people exchanges.

According to the US State Department, the two sides also discussed regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia.

The department said Rubio emphasised that increased energy trade with the US could help India diversify its supply chains while meeting its substantial consumer demand. He also welcomed progress in bilateral defence and civil nuclear cooperation and encouraged greater purchases of US technologies and systems.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor described the talks as productive, saying they focused on expanding cooperation in security, energy, advanced technologies and commerce.

Rubio also addressed India's efforts to diversify its energy portfolio amid questions about its historical purchases of Russian crude oil.

“Obviously, it's not easy to do that from one day to the next day,” Rubio said, adding that India had made substantial progress and that Washington was happy to see it.

He said the issue extended beyond Russian oil to India's broader effort to diversify its energy sources, adding that the US could supply some of India's energy requirements.


(With ANI inputs)