News India Times

www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (February 7, 2026 - February 13, 2026) February 13, 2026 6 Cover Story I n early September, shortly after In- dian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a chummy meeting with Vladi- mir Putin and Xi Jinping in China, he dispatched his national security adviser toWashington to help smooth over fraying ties. Ajit Doval came with a message for Secretary of State Marco Rubio: India wanted to put the acrimony between the two nations behind it and get back to negotiating a trade deal, according to officials in New Delhi familiar with the meeting, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Doval told Rubio that India wouldn’t be bullied by US President Donald Trump and his top aides, the people said, and would be willing to wait out his term, having faced other hostile US ad- ministrations in the past. But New Delhi wanted Trump and his aides to dial down their public criticism of India so they could get relations back on track, Doval said in the meeting. At the time, India was smarting from Trump’s insults and the 50% tariffs he’d slapped on its goods in August. The US president had called India a “dead” economy with high tariffs and that it was funding Putin’s war in Ukraine by buying Russian oil. It wasn’t long after Doval’s meeting, which was previously unreported, that the first signs of an ease in tensions emerged. On Sept. 16, Trump called Modi on his birthday and praised him for doing a “tremendous job.” By the end of the year, the two leaders had spoken four more times on the phone as they inched toward a deal to bring down the tariffs. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, denied that the Doval-Rubio meeting took place when asked about it at a regular briefing on Thursday. A spokesperson for the US State Department said that in keeping with standard diplomatic practice, it does not disclose the details of private discussions. On Monday, Trump announced he’d reached a trade agreement with Modi that would reduce tariffs on India’s goods to 18%, lower than most of its peers in Asia. A punitive 25% duty that the US leader had slapped on India for buying Russian oil was also scrapped. In turn, Trump said, India agreed to purchase $500 billion of US goods, switch to buy- ing Venezuelan oil, and reduce tariffs on US imports to zero. Modi’s government hasn’t confirmed those details and nei- ther side has published any documenta- tion to codify the agreement. “The past year has been one where negotiators, both in the US and India worked feverishly to get us to this point,” Nisha Biswal, partner at The Asia Group and former US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “It benefits both the US and India that you have an India that is finally really opening up on global trade.” Publicly, there had been no indication from either side that a deal was immi- nent. As recently as last week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India still had a long way to go to convince Washington it was halting Russia crude PHOTO:REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE/FILE PHOTO PHOTO: .SUOTAKEKUMA/POOLVIA REUTERS/FILE PHOTO Modi Adopted Strong Line To Clinch US Trade Deal; Sent Message Of India’s Resilience Through Doval By Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Dan Strumpf and Shruti Srivastava U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepare to shake hands as they attend a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Meijiang C onvention and Exhibition Centre in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Emerging US-India Trade Deal Gets Positive Feedback. Ambassador Gor Sees “Limitless Potential!” I ndian American community leaders, or- ganizations and think tanks applauded the announcement February 2, 2026, of an imminent trade deal between Washington and New Delhi that brings down tariffs on Indian goods and could herald a return to normal bilateral relations after months of tension. A lot of the credit for the emerging trade deal lies with Ambassador Sergio Gor’s ar- rival in Delhi, say some observers. “Engagement at the highest levels is cur- rently happening,” Ambassador Gor said posting pictures of India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who arrived inWash- ington Feb. 2, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and himself. “The United States is ready to elevate this relationship even further. Limitless Poten- tial!” Ambassador Gor enthused. Background Prime Minister Modi in an X post Febru- ary 2, announced that US tariffs on Indian products had been reduced to 18 percent by Washington, in a breakthrough after months of negotiations between the two nations. “Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%,” Modi posted X.com/naren- dramodi. President Trump in his post on Truth Social said a trade deal had been struck with India and tariffs were being reduced to 18 percent from 25 percent. In a rapidly developing story of high import to both United States and India, lead- ers of the two countries appeared to have averted a major trade confrontation with global implications. President Trump’s post on Truth Social following a call with Modi, said, “Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective imme- diately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Recipro- cal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%.” The President went on to add that Modi had also committed to buying more than $500 billion dollars products in U.S. energy, technology, agricultural and other sectors. AWhite House official told Reuters, “We are also dropping the 25% tariff given India’s agreement to stop buying Russian oil.” On Saturday, January 31, Trump had broached the idea of a potential deal for In- dia to buy Venezuelan oil after the US seized control of that country. In August 2025, the Trump administra- tion had doubled duties on imports from India to 50% in a bid to stop New Delhi from purchasing Russian oil, and in January, the By a StaffWriter - Continued On Page 7 - Continued On Page 7 Breaking - India and the U.S. expect to sign a formal trade deal in March, after which New Delhi will lower tariffs on U.S. goods, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, giving the first official timeline for the deal’s adoption.” -- REUTERS