Officials in New Delhi were reportedly unaware of the final details of the deal announced by the US this week
The sudden announcement of a US-India trade deal by President Donald Trump has surprised New Delhi, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
On February 2, Trump posted on Truth Social that a deal has been finalized and claimed that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the post without referring to any commitment on oil purchases.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reportedly said last week that New Delhi still had a long way to go to convince Washington it was halting purchases of Russian crude.
Many senior officials, including those with direct involvement in the trade negotiations, were reportedly unaware that a call between Trump and Modi was scheduled this week, according to the Bloomberg report.
Indian officials were unable to confirm vital details about the deal to reporters, the news outlet added.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who was in Washington on Tuesday to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said the details of a deal are being worked out.
“It was not directly with me, because that is being handled by Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal,” Jaishankar told the ANI news agency when asked about the negotiations and timelines. “The prime minister and the US President had a conversation, some announcements came out of it. Thereafter, a detailing of the trade negotiations is underway as we speak.”
Goyal said on Thursday the first tranche of its bilateral trade agreement will be out within the next four to five days. “A more comprehensive and formal agreement is targeted for signing by mid-March,” he added.
Bloomberg added that New Delhi had been working behind the scenes with Washington and dispatched National Security Advisor Ajit Doval reportedly to meet Rubio to help the sides get back to negotiating the deal.
India’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on Thursday refuted the news outlet’s claim about Doval’s visit.
