BEYOND THE ‘PLATEAU’: JAISHANKAR SIGNALS A BREAKTHROUGH WINDOW IN INDIA–US TRADE TALKS AS BOTH SIDES WORK TOWARDS A LANDING POINT
October 14, 2026
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has indicated that negotiations between India and the United States over a proposed bilateral trade agreement are approaching a potential breakthrough, offering a more optimistic assessment of the talks barely a week after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warned that negotiations had reached a “plateau” beyond which further concessions would be extremely difficult.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday evening, Jaishankar said both countries were continuing to work through unresolved differences, with trade officials on either side attempting to bridge the remaining gaps. He described India as being at an advanced stage in the negotiating process, while cautioning that certain outstanding issues remained confidential.
“I think we are waiting on a few things. I wouldn't be comfortable spilling the beans in public,” Jaishankar said when asked about the status of the negotiations.
He subsequently offered a more encouraging assessment, saying he believed the discussions were moving towards a “landing point”. His remarks suggest that New Delhi sees scope for progress despite the difficult trade-offs confronting the two countries.
The negotiations involve India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and other officials responsible for advancing the proposed agreement. According to Jaishankar, the teams are actively working through their differences rather than allowing the negotiations to stall.
The central challenge is to reconcile India's demand for favourable market access with Washington's determination to reshape the terms on which foreign economies trade with the American market. India is seeking tariff treatment for its goods that is competitive with the concessions the United States extends to other economies, particularly as Washington negotiates separate trade arrangements with countries around the world.
Jaishankar acknowledged that comparisons with competing economies have become a significant part of the negotiating process. Even when India and the United States agree on the terms of their own bilateral relationship, the relative advantages available to other trading partners can influence whether the final arrangement serves India's interests.
“People, the trade ministers, USTR there and our Commerce and Industry Minister are there working on that. They're ironing it out,” he said, describing the discussions as an attempt to resolve the remaining differences.
SITHARAMAN’S ‘PLATEAU’ WARNING HIGHLIGHTED THE DIFFICULTY OF FURTHER CONCESSIONS
The external affairs minister's assessment contrasts with Sitharaman's comments last week, when she said India and the United States had reached a stage in negotiations where additional concessions would be difficult for either side to offer.
The finance minister had described the talks as rigorous and demanding, suggesting that the two countries had already explored much of the available room for compromise. Although she did not rule out further movement, she cautioned that any additional concessions would depend on whether negotiators could identify remaining areas in which both sides had sufficient flexibility.
Her assessment highlighted the challenge of concluding an agreement that satisfies both governments without forcing either to compromise on issues it considers important.
Jaishankar's latest remarks do not necessarily contradict that assessment. His reference to a “landing point” indicates that negotiations may be moving towards a possible understanding, but it does not mean that the agreement has been finalised or that all differences have been resolved.
The distinction is important because the United States has not indicated that a deal is imminent. Earlier this month, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington and New Delhi were working towards finalising a bilateral agreement but still had unresolved issues to address. He said the two sides had identified the remaining areas of disagreement and were continuing negotiations.
The proposed pact has been under discussion since early 2025, with both countries seeking to address tariff disputes, eliminate non-tariff barriers and expand bilateral market access.
WASHINGTON’S TRADE POLICY IS BEING SHAPED BY A BROADER ECONOMIC RESET
Jaishankar also placed the negotiations within the context of a wider change in American economic policy. He argued that Washington's increasingly assertive use of tariffs was not an isolated trade measure but part of a broader effort to rebuild domestic manufacturing and revise the terms on which foreign businesses gain access to the US economy.
“The US is today determined to re-industrialise and to reset the terms of access to its economy,” he said, describing the tariff debate as closely connected to the administration's objective of strengthening American industrial capacity.
This approach has affected trade negotiations with major economies around the world. Countries seeking continued access to the American market are being required to assess how their tariff arrangements, market-access policies and commercial relationships fit into Washington's revised economic priorities.
India is therefore negotiating not merely to resolve a bilateral tariff dispute but also to secure its position within a changing international trading environment.
Jaishankar said India was not alone in confronting these challenges and described the country as “pretty far advanced” in the negotiating process. That assessment suggests New Delhi believes it has made substantial progress, even though the final terms remain under discussion.
For India, the immediate objective is to secure an agreement that improves access for Indian exporters while preserving its ability to protect important domestic economic interests. For Washington, the negotiations form part of an effort to reduce trade imbalances, encourage manufacturing and obtain more favourable conditions for American businesses.
TRADE DIFFERENCES HAVE ADDED TO A BROADER STRAIN IN BILATERAL RELATIONS
The proposed agreement has assumed greater importance because India–US relations have experienced a significant downturn over the past year. Washington imposed punitive tariffs on Indian goods, while disagreements also arose over President Donald Trump's claims concerning his role in de-escalating the India–Pakistan military confrontation of May 2025. Indian officials responded sharply to those assertions.
Differences over immigration policy and the increased fee for H-1B visas have also contributed to tensions. More recently, Washington's decision to restrict a green-card processing programme used by major international and Indian information-technology companies, including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, placed additional pressure on the relationship.
Against this backdrop, the trade negotiations represent an important opportunity to restore momentum in one of the central economic relationships for both countries. A bilateral agreement could help establish clearer rules for market access, reduce some sources of tariff friction and provide a framework for future commercial cooperation.
However, the broader relationship is not confined to trade. Jaishankar emphasised that the United States is revising its approach to alliances and treaty relationships, a shift that has been felt most strongly in Europe and, to some extent, in East Asia.
He distinguished India's relationship with Washington from a formal military alliance, describing it instead as a strong strategic partnership built over more than two decades around converging interests and areas of cooperation.
India, he said, has developed its relationship with the United States on the basis of shared interests and agreed areas of collaboration rather than treaty-based alliance obligations. Despite the recent difficulties, he did not believe that the underlying foundations of that partnership had fundamentally changed.
A POSSIBLE LANDING POINT, BUT NO FINAL AGREEMENT YET
Jaishankar's comments offer a measure of optimism about the direction of the negotiations, but the proposed trade deal remains unfinished. The remaining issues must still be resolved by officials on both sides, and Washington has not indicated that an agreement is imminent.
The negotiations will therefore depend on whether India and the United States can reconcile their competing priorities: India's demand for competitive market access and protection of its economic interests, and Washington's determination to reset trade terms as part of its reindustrialisation strategy.
The external affairs minister's reference to a “landing point” suggests that New Delhi believes a mutually acceptable outcome may be achievable. Yet the contrast with Sitharaman's warning about limited room for further concessions underscores the difficulty of the final stage.
For both countries, the task is now to convert the progress made in negotiations into a concrete agreement without creating further uncertainty in an already strained relationship. Whether that effort produces a breakthrough will depend on the outstanding issues and the willingness of both governments to accept a workable compromise.
