Jaishankar met his American counterpart Marco Rubio and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Tuesday against the backdrop of the announcement of the trade deal. Thereafter, a detailing of the trade negotiations is underway as we speak." The punitive tariff – 25 per cent over and above 25 per cent – was also scrapped. The 18 per cent tariff is one of the lowest for Asian countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's social media post, which followed Trump's, and the Indian government's official comments on the trade deal made no mention of these claims.

Source: The Telegraph February 05, 2026 06:28 UTC