New Delhi [India], February 14 : Former Ambassador of India to the US and BJP leader Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Friday spoke about the importance of trade between India and the US, highlighting the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
According to Sandhu, the primary topic of conversation was Mission 500, the initiative to increase bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.
"If you look at Prime Minister Modi's tweet before the visit, trade was to be one of the important issues and it was discussed in the meeting and in the trade they have spoken about a very clear new goal which is Mission 500 that is increasing the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 and also start the negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement by fall of 2025 and there is also written by both sides to look into bilateral trade barriers and market access," Sandhu told ANI.
Addressing the topic of reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Trump on Indian goods, Sandhu clarified that these tariffs were not aimed specifically at India but were part of a broader approach to address trade imbalances with multiple countries.
He also pointed out that Trump's tariff policies have impacted other countries as well, including several of the US's allies, saying, "I think what you have said is very significant, but let us see this in perspective. Firstly, President Trump believes that tariffs are a method by which economic balance can be done. It's his perception and he has spoken about it earlier too. Now we also need to see the Indian part in perspective. So it involved about USD 40 billion dollars. India is not one of the largest countries there having the imbalance. There are other countries and those countries are also many of them are allies of United States. So it is not that this was directed towards India, but what you have pointed out is what they have decided as far as trade and investment is concerned."
Sandhu further explained that during Trump's first term, India was a key trade partner of the US, following which he expressed hope that this relationship would continue under the current administration.
"Remember that Indian companies also have an issue with market access to United States and supply chain. And on supply chain, I would like to mention that it was in Trump 1.0, during the COVID time, that President Trump had very strongly pushed for secure supply chains and India had emerged as an important partner in that and that has continued and it will continue this time too. And finally, in that statement, you will see that there is recognition of the role which the Indian companies are playing in United States that they are investing almost USD 8 billion and creating high quality jobs in United States," the former Ambassador added.
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