New Delhi: Donald Trump loves being in the limelight and wants to be a messiah.
Last week, he took credit for the US brokering a ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan, which was not acknowledged by New Delhi.
On Thursday, the US President said that India has offered a trade deal with “literally zero tariffs”.
India was quick to clarify the actual position, without taking Trump’s name.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday that talks between India and the US are ongoing, with negotiations being complex and far from final.
“Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial, it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation from the trade deal. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature,” Jaishankar told reporters.
#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, “Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is. Any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial; it has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation… pic.twitter.com/qiDroEHzQD
— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2025
Earlier, Trump asserted that India had offered the United States a trade deal with zero tariffs. “It is very hard to sell in India. India has offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff,” Trump said while speaking at a business forum in Qatar, without any more details.
The US had imposed a 26 per cent tariff on Indian goods as part of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ declarations.
The US subsequently paused the trade tariffs announced against several countries for 90 days.
India is looking to finalise a trade deal with the US before the 90-day tariff reprieve expires.