By Arun Nair
India is hopeful of reaching a trade deal with the US “very soon”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, emphasising that the two countries have made considerable progress in the trade talks. “I believe it’s possible, and I think we’ll have to watch this space for the next few days,” Jaishankar, who is in the US, told Newsweek in an interview. President Donald Trump has set a July 9 deadline for imposing reciprocal tariffs, but trade negotiations have run into obstacles over duties on farm goods, steel and car parts. “You spoke about trade, yes we are in the middle, hopefully, more than the middle, of a very intricate trade negotiation,” Jaishankar said on Monday. Trump has voiced optimism for a deal with India, which is an important diplomatic partner as a Top Five global economy. “We are in the middle, hopefully more than the middle, of a very intricate trade negotiation. Obviously, my hope would be that we bring it to a successful conclusion, I cannot guarantee, because there’s another party to that discussion, but no question,” Jaishankar said at Newsweek’s office. “I believe it’s possible, and I think we’ll have to watch this space for the next few days,” he said. He said that there will have to be give and take. “And just like the US or people in the US may have views about India, people in India have views about the US too. And we’ll have to find a kind of meeting ground. I believe it’s possible,” he said. An Indian delegation is currently in Washington DC and discussions are ongoing over the bilateral trade agreement. “So our expectation, our hope, certainly is that we will bring it to a common ground,” he said, adding that these are complicated negotiations. In response to a question on Trump’s “trade deal with India will happen soon” remark, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt agreed and said “they are finalising these agreements”. “You’ll hear from the President and his team, his trade team very soon when it comes to India,” she said. ‘Relationships Will Never be Free of Issues’ On the India-US relations from the presidency years of Bill Clinton to the current Trump administration, Jaishankar said the trend lines in bilateral relations have been very positive. The trend line over the last 25 years has been very strong because there are structural factors that work for the relationship such as economics, technology, education, security and energy, he said. Jaishankar said there will be arguments and differences in the relationship. “Sure, it happens. It won’t be for the first time. In fact, at every one of these presidencies, I can think of something which at that time was a friction point,” he said, as he recalled having to deal with Washington’s plans to sell F16 aircraft to Pakistan. “Relationships will never be free of issues, even I would say, differences. I think what matters is the ability to deal with it and to keep that trend going in the positive direction,” he said.