Amid the fear of implications of US President Donald Trump's tariff measures on India, US Vice President JD Vance, who is on a four-day visit to India, on Tuesday said that both countries have officially finalised the "terms of reference for a trade negotiation."
“When President Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February that our country’s aim to more than double our bilateral trade to $500 billion by the end of the decade, I know that both of them meant and I’m encouraged by everything our nations are doing to get us there. As many of you are aware, both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities by creating new jobs, building durable supply chains and achieving prosperity for our workers,” Vance said, while delivering a lecture on US-India ties at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur.
“In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all of those points, and we are especially excited to formally announce that America and India have officially finalized Terms of Reference for the trade negotiation. I think this is a vital step," he said.
“I believe this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump’s and Prime Minister Modi’s vision, because it sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations. I believe there is much that America and India can accomplish together,” he added.
Stating that India and America has a lot to accomplish together, Vance mentioned key areas of collaboration between the two countries: “America does more military exercises with India than with any other nation on Earth. Second, we aim to build great things together. And finally, to innovate the cutting-edge technologies both our countries will need in the years to come,” he said.
He also called on India to give the US greater access to its markets, buy more American energy and defence hardware.
"We believe that American energy can help realize India's nuclear power production goals, and this is very important, as well as its AI ambitions, because, as the United States knows well, and I know that India knows well, there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance," he said.
Vance began his four-day trip to Jaipur by visiting the historic Amer Palace on Tuesday morning. From the elephant stand in Amer, he was taken to the palace in an open gypsy. At the entrance, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari extended a warm welcome.