'Road Map To Final Deal': JD Vance Says Trade Pact Terms Finalised, Calls PM Modi 'A Tough Negotiator'

Last Updated:April 22, 2025, 16:24 IST

US Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump wants both countries to grow so that they can work across sectors like trade, defence and energy for a win-win partnership

PM Narendra Modi and US Vice President JD Vance during delegation-level talks, in Delhi on April 21. (Image: PMO/PTI)

American Vice-President JD Vance on Tuesday said both the Indian and US governments are working hard on a trade agreement. He said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made “very good progress" and this is the “roadmap to a final deal".

A day after holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Vance said President Donald Trump wants both the US and India to grow and the two countries can work together across sectors including trade, defence and energy for a win-win partnership.

“India-US trade agreement is based on shared priorities. Both the governments are hard at work on a trade agreement. Yesterday, me and (PM) Modi made very good progress, we have finalised the ‘Terms Of Reference’. This is the roadmap to a final deal," he said.

He is on a mostly personal, four-day visit to India, and was speaking during his trip to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Praising Modi as a “tough negotiator", he said it is the prime reason why the US respects him.

The Vice President said the US wants a “balanced and open" system of trade and “complete fairness" with its partners. “We want a system of trade that is balanced and open. We should have some common goals in trade and global security. Our administration seeks trade with our partners with complete fairness," he said. “PM Modi is a tough negotiator and that is why we respect him."

His trip comes at a time when India is rushing to clinch an early trade deal with the US – its largest trading partner – before the end of the 90-day pause on the steep tariffs announced by Trump’s administration.

WHAT DID VANCE AND MODI DISCUSS DURING BILATERAL MEETING?

Modi and Vance on Monday (April 21) actively engaged in bilateral trade talks. Top sources said the mood was in keeping with the goal of increasing trade between India and US to $500 billion by 2030, while the main area of negotiation was the farm sector.

While India has agreed to buy more oil and natural gas from the US, it has also cut reciprocal tariffs on some agricultural products like pistachios and almonds. But, the US wants more of its agricultural products to be exported to India. The three main crops, which it wants should have greater access to the Indian markets, are corn, (maize), cotton and soybean.

This is, however, where a bit of a dilemma comes in for India that is primarily an agrarian economy. The three contentious farm laws had to be rolled back as, politically, the Centre cannot afford to alienate farmers. So, the focus of the trade talks was also on agricultural exports.

(With agency inputs)

News india 'Road Map To Final Deal': JD Vance Says Trade Pact Terms Finalised, Calls PM Modi 'A Tough Negotiator'