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India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that the amendments in the White House’s fact sheet on the India-US interim trade agreement “reflect the shared understandings contained in the joint statement” that the two countries had issued on February 7. It suggested that the joint statement is the “framework” for the interim trade agreement, and not the fact sheet.
The US on Wednesday morning issued a revised fact sheet on the trade agreement with India, in which it dropped references to New Delhi reducing or eliminating duties on “certain pulses”, diluted the text on India’s proposed $500 billion purchases from the US and softened the text on digital trade.
When asked about the changes in the fact sheet at the MEA’s weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “As you are aware, the India-US joint statement on the framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade was issued on February 7. The joint statement is the framework and remains the basis of our mutual understanding in the matter,” he said, adding that “both sides will now work towards implementing this framework and finalising the interim agreement”.
“The amendments in the US fact sheet reflect the shared understandings contained in the joint statement,” Jaiswal said.
