India and the United States will hold trade talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, senior commerce ministry officials said, underlining a reversal in bilateral ties after weeks of criticism from US officials and raising hopes for a breakthrough on a free trade agreement that was jeopardised by the punitive tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump on India for buying Russian oil.

“The chief negotiator of the US [Brendan Lynch] is visiting India tonight,” India’s chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks and special secretary, commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, said on Monday afternoon. The US team will meet the Indian negotiating team on Tuesday, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal confirmed, adding that, overall, the two sides are in a “positive frame of mind” on matters related to trade.

Tuesday’s meeting may pave the way for the sixth round of trade talks that were earlier scheduled for August 25 in New Delhi. Those talks were postponed after Trump on August 7 imposed on India a 25% punitive tariff besides a 25% reciprocal tariff that cumulatively was one of the highest levies on merchandise exports from any US trading partner. The additional levy for purchasing Russian crude oil kicked in on August 27. India has called the tariffs unreasonable and unjustified.

The meeting on Tuesday would be the first, formal, face-to-face bilateral engagement of the two negotiating teams, representing a high-level trade dialogue, after the fifth round in Washington from July 14 to 18. The two officials described it as a “continuation of talks” as both sides had been “continuously and constructively” engaged through virtual mode despite the hiatus in in-person talks.

The sentiment initially began shifting earlier this month with Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanging positive statements, with Trump calling Modi a “great Prime Minister” and both leaders expressing confidence in concluding trade negotiations.

This was followed by commerce secretary Howard Lutnick telling CNBC on Thursday, “I think India, we’ll sort it out once they stop buying Russian oil.” Sergio Gor, Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to India, told senators at his confirmation hearing the same day that India and the US were “not far apart” on resolving trade and tariff disputes.

These statements were in contrast to the criticism emanating from Washington in late August and early September. Trump administration officials called India an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” and demanded New Delhi choose between America and Russia-China alignment, especially after Modi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Beijing with Russian president Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

On Monday, White House Trade advisor Peter Navarro, one of the most strident critics of India on Trump’s team, acknowledged in a TV interview that India and the US were back at the negotiation table.

India and the US on February 13 agreed to conclude the first tranche of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by October 2025. The two countries finalised the detailed terms of reference for negotiations of the BTA on March 29. On April 22, US Vice President JD Vance officially announced the finalisation of the terms of reference during his India visit, and called it “a vital step toward a final deal” between the two nations in a post on X.

India and the United States will hold trade talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, senior commerce ministry officials said, underlining a reversal in bilateral ties after weeks of criticism from US officials and raising hopes for a breakthrough on a free trade agreement that was jeopardised by the punitive tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump on India for buying Russian oil.

“The chief negotiator of the US [Brendan Lynch] is visiting India tonight,” India’s chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks and special secretary, commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, said on Monday afternoon. The US team will meet the Indian negotiating team on Tuesday, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal confirmed, adding that, overall, the two sides are in a “positive frame of mind” on matters related to trade.

It is expected that Tuesday’s meeting will pave the way for the sixth round of trade talks that were earlier scheduled for August 25 in New Delhi. Those talks were postponed after Trump on August 7 imposed on India a 25% punitive tariff besides a 25% reciprocal tariff that cumulatively was one of the highest levies on mechandise exports from any US trading partner. The additional levy for purchasing Russian crude oil kicked in on August 27. India has called the tariffs unreasonable and unjustified.

Tuesday’s meeting would be the first, formal, face-to-face bilateral meeting of the two negotiating teams, representing a high-level trade engagement, after the fifth round on xxxx in xxx (if not the fifth round, cite the last instance). The two officials described it as a “continuation of talks” as both sides had been “continuously and constructively” engaged through virtual mode despite the hiatus in-person talks.

The sentiment initially began shifting last week with Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanging positive statements, with Trump calling Modi a “great Prime Minister” and both leaders expressing confidence in concluding trade negotiations.

This was followed by commerce secretary Howard Lutnick telling CNBC on Thursday, “I think India, we’ll sort it out once they stop buying Russian oil.” Sergio Gor, Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to India, told senators at his confirmation hearing the same day that India and the US were “not far apart” on resolving trade and tariff disputes.

These statements were in contrast to the criticism emanating from Washington in late August and early September. Trump administration officials called India an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” and demanded New Delhi choose between America and Russia-China alignment, especially after Modi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Beijing with Russian president Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

On Monday, White House Trade advisor Peter Navarro, one of the most strident critics of India on Trump’s team, acknowledged in a TV show that India and the US were back at the negotiation table.

India and the US on February 13 agreed to conclude the first tranche of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by October 2015. The two countries finalised the detailed terms of reference for negotiations of the BTA on March 29. On April 22, US Vice President JD Vance officially announced the finalisation of the terms of reference during his India visit, and called it “a vital step toward a final deal” between the two nations in a post on X.