Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri said on Thursday that India and the United States are in the final stages of concluding a temporary bilateral trade agreement, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed trade on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France.
“We have already made significant progress with the United States on concluding a temporary bilateral trade agreement. We are in the final stages of concluding this agreement,” Al-Masry told reporters in a press conference on Thursday, adding that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will visit India next week to push the discussions forward.
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Al-Masry said that the proposed trade agreement featured prominently in the meeting between Modi and Trump, as the two leaders directed officials to expedite its conclusion.
These statements came after Trump said that the two countries were “very close” to finalizing a long-awaited trade agreement. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Modi, Trump described the Indian Prime Minister as “one of the strongest” negotiators and said discussions have been underway for some time.
“We’ve had, in particular, some very good conversations with Indian Prime Minister Modi,” Trump said. “And we’re making trade deals, we’re doing a lot of things, a lot of things are happening between the United States and India.”
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The US President also praised Modi for encouraging Indian investments in the United States, saying, “The Prime Minister is building a lot in the United States. He is spending a lot of money in the United States.”
India and the United States reached an interim understanding on trade in February after nearly a year of negotiations, and are now working on finalizing the agreement.
Al-Masry also said that the trade deal raised a state of uncertainty between the two countries. Al-Masry said, according to Reuters: “There are ups and downs in relations between countries, and the leaders of the two countries are dealing with them.”
The India-UK trade agreement comes into effect from July 15
Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday also welcomed the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that will come into force on July 15, terming it a “historic milestone” in bilateral relations and a major boost to trade and investment between the two countries.
In a post on X, Modi said the agreement would deepen economic engagement between India and the UK and create new opportunities across key sectors. He added, “This agreement will significantly enhance our bilateral trade and investments.”
The announcement came after British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron confirmed that the free trade agreement between India and the United Kingdom will come into effect from July 15, describing it as a historic development in the economic relationship between the two countries.
The implementation marks the final stage of the trade agreement that India and the UK signed in July 2025 after nearly three years of negotiations. The agreement is expected to enhance market access, increase bilateral trade, and encourage more investment flows between the two countries.
