Presenting an optimistic picture of trade ties between India and the United States, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Friday (May 29, 2026) said the two sides were expected to sign a trade deal ‘over the next few weeks and months’.

Delivering a speech at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, Mr. Gor said India was aligning with “trusted ecosystems and resilient supply chains”.

“Our current interim trade agreement is on the table for us to finalise, and that will unlock prosperity for both of our countries. Just last week, India sent a team to Washington DC to finalise the last 1% of that trade deal. Next week, we will welcome a U.S. delegation here to continue those talks. We fully expect that the trade deal will be signed over the next few weeks and months,” said Mr. Gor in his first speech following the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to New Delhi earlier this week to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting when the two sides signed an agreement on critical minerals to bypass the disruption caused by China’s export controls on critical minerals that were imposed last year.

Broader BTA

The Hindu had earlier reported on May 27 that a high-power team of U.S. negotiators led by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be visiting India from June 1-4 to “finalise the details” pertaining to the Interim Agreement between the two countries and take forward the negotiations on a broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Mr. Gor pointed out that in a little over two decades, bilateral trade had grown from $20 billion to $220 billion in goods and services and described this as an outcome of “deeper, broader engagement and stronger economic integration”. He said the U.S. had emerged as one of India’s largest trading partners, and India was among the “top trading partners of the United States”, and cited innovation, investment in sectors such as digital trade, advanced manufacturing, energy and emerging technologies.

Mr Gor described ‘critical and emerging technologies’ as factors that were “fundamentally reshaping” the global ‘balance of power’ and said, “I believe no partnership is better positioned to lead that charge than ours.”

“We realise the potential that India has. We see the growth that India has, not only economically, but strategically to the world. And it is an area where we have identified, where we are growing, where we are enhancing this partnership. And it is one of the goals that this President has from the White House,” said Mr. Gor.