<p>New Delhi: India is actively engaging with the Donal Trump administration and hopes to sign first tranches of the proposed bilateral trade agreement with the United States by autumn this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.</p>.<p>In an interaction with the Indian diaspora in San Francisco, Sitharaman said India and the US are engaging at different levels to push for the deal.</p>.<p>She pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in mid-February has been followed by high-level ministerial and official level visits. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US in early March. It was followed by American trade officials led by the assistant US Trade Representative’s visit to New Delhi. US Vice President JD Vance is on a four-day visit to India currently.</p>.Nirmala Sitharaman to review progress of 'One state-one RRB' on May 6.<p>“In fact, the progress of the agreement or the trade agreement that we are working on, at least a first tranche is something which we hope to conclude positively by the fall this year,” Sitharaman said.</p>.<p>Sitharaman, who is on a five-day visit to the United States, said the India-US high level engagements are not just for the reciprocal tariffs-related issues but a part of a broader trade negotiation strategy. She is scheduled to hold talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior officials.</p>.<p>She said India and the United States target to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. The bilateral trade agreement is likely to be an important step in boosting two-way trade.</p>.<p>Last week India and the US had signed ‘terms of reference’ for the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement.</p>.<p>Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal is scheduled to visit the US later this month to take the negotiations forward. Agrawal is leading the Indian side on the bilateral trade negotiations with the US.</p>.<p>Responding to a question related to India’s fiscal management, Sitharaman said India is committed to bring down the fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 2026.</p>.<p>“During the Covid pandemic, our fiscal deficit went up. But in 2021, we came up with a clear signal as to how we wanted to manage our fiscal deficit. We set year-on-year targets and committed to bringing the fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 2026,” she said. India’s fiscal deficit had risen to over 9% in 2020-21.</p>.<p>The Finance Minister said India targets to bring down debt to GDP ratio closer to 50% by 2030 from around 57.4% now. During the Covid pandemic it went to around 62%. </p>
<p>New Delhi: India is actively engaging with the Donal Trump administration and hopes to sign first tranches of the proposed bilateral trade agreement with the United States by autumn this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.</p>.<p>In an interaction with the Indian diaspora in San Francisco, Sitharaman said India and the US are engaging at different levels to push for the deal.</p>.<p>She pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in mid-February has been followed by high-level ministerial and official level visits. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US in early March. It was followed by American trade officials led by the assistant US Trade Representative’s visit to New Delhi. US Vice President JD Vance is on a four-day visit to India currently.</p>.Nirmala Sitharaman to review progress of 'One state-one RRB' on May 6.<p>“In fact, the progress of the agreement or the trade agreement that we are working on, at least a first tranche is something which we hope to conclude positively by the fall this year,” Sitharaman said.</p>.<p>Sitharaman, who is on a five-day visit to the United States, said the India-US high level engagements are not just for the reciprocal tariffs-related issues but a part of a broader trade negotiation strategy. She is scheduled to hold talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior officials.</p>.<p>She said India and the United States target to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. The bilateral trade agreement is likely to be an important step in boosting two-way trade.</p>.<p>Last week India and the US had signed ‘terms of reference’ for the first tranche of the proposed bilateral trade agreement.</p>.<p>Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal is scheduled to visit the US later this month to take the negotiations forward. Agrawal is leading the Indian side on the bilateral trade negotiations with the US.</p>.<p>Responding to a question related to India’s fiscal management, Sitharaman said India is committed to bring down the fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 2026.</p>.<p>“During the Covid pandemic, our fiscal deficit went up. But in 2021, we came up with a clear signal as to how we wanted to manage our fiscal deficit. We set year-on-year targets and committed to bringing the fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 2026,” she said. India’s fiscal deficit had risen to over 9% in 2020-21.</p>.<p>The Finance Minister said India targets to bring down debt to GDP ratio closer to 50% by 2030 from around 57.4% now. During the Covid pandemic it went to around 62%. </p>