External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday struck a note of cautious optimism about the long-awaited India-US bilateral trade agreement, saying the two countries were moving towards finalising a deal even as he warned that the final stretch of negotiations could prove the most difficult.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar summed up the state of the talks with a single, measured line: "Well, look, it's never done till it's done." The remark, made during a discussion on the India-US relationship, captured both the momentum behind the negotiations and the unresolved complexities that continue to stand in the way of a signature.
Jaishankar's comments carry particular weight because they come from the very top of India's foreign policy establishment and arrive after a week in which both sides have publicly signalled that an agreement may be within reach. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said the deal was "pretty close" — a characterisation that has raised expectations in business and policy circles in both countries.
The External Affairs Minister appeared to echo that sentiment, while deliberately tempering expectations. He noted that senior officials on both sides — including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and others — had indicated progress in the talks. "What you've heard not just from Secretary Rubio, but from Minister Piyush Goyal, from others, from me, is that we are moving towards it," he said.
But he was quick to add that the endgame of any complex negotiation is rarely smooth. "As I said, often the last mile or the penultimate miles do pose their challenges. I think the (negotiating) teams are working through them now," he told the summit audience. The phrasing suggested that while broad political direction has been set, technical negotiators are still wrestling with substantive points of difference.
When pressed on what precisely those outstanding issues were, Jaishankar declined to go into detail, keeping the cards of the negotiating teams firmly face-down. "If you're asking me to tell you what exactly those challenges are, I'm sorry I won't. That's for the negotiators to sort out," he said.
India and the United States have now been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement for over a year, with the ambition of expanding market access for both sides and resolving longstanding differences over tariffs, agricultural commodities, industrial goods and regulatory barriers. The talks have unfolded against a backdrop of tariff tensions between the two countries, making the search for common ground all the more consequential for exporters and importers on both sides.
Agriculture has traditionally been among the most sensitive sectors in India-US trade discussions. India has historically guarded its farm economy, where millions of small farmers depend on domestic protections, while the United States has pushed for greater access for its agricultural exports.
Industrial goods and regulatory barriers — including standards, certification requirements and other non-tariff hurdles — have similarly featured in the negotiations, alongside the broader question of tariff levels.
For India, a comprehensive deal with the United States would lock in greater access to its largest single trading partner and one of its most important sources of foreign investment. For the United States, the agreement would deepen economic ties with one of the world's fastest-growing major economies at a time when Washington is recalibrating its global trade relationships.
The timing of Jaishankar's remarks is also significant. They came at a high-profile summit attended by policymakers, business leaders and diplomats, and in a week of intense India-US diplomatic engagement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to India this week, with Jaishankar meeting him in Mumbai — a visit that itself drew domestic political commentary, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi remarking that Rubio had "summoned" the minister.
The comment drew attention to the political sensitivity surrounding the relationship, even as the diplomatic machinery continues its work.
The Mumbai meeting and the surrounding commentary underline how closely the trade negotiations are being watched at home. Any agreement will carry political as well as economic implications, and the government has been careful to frame the talks as a patient, step-by-step process rather than a race to the finish.
That framing was evident throughout Jaishankar's remarks at the summit. By acknowledging the challenges of the final stages while confirming that both sides were moving in the same direction, the minister sought to project confidence without over-promising — a balance that negotiators on both sides have struck repeatedly over the course of the talks.
Observers of the India-US relationship have long noted that trade has been both a driver and an irritant. The two countries share deep strategic convergences and growing commercial ties, yet disagreements over market access, tariffs and digital trade rules have periodically flared into friction. A bilateral agreement would mark an attempt to put that relationship on a more structured and predictable footing.
Whether the negotiators can close the remaining gaps quickly remains the open question. Jaishankar's refusal to specify the outstanding issues means the public will have to wait for the outcome rather than the blow-by-blow. His message, however, was clear on one point: political will exists on both sides, and the technical teams are at work.
The next signals will likely come from the negotiating rooms rather than public podiums. Until the teams emerge with agreed text, both capitals appear content to let the process run its course — and to remind the world, as Jaishankar did, that the deal is never done until it is done.
For businesses on both sides of the Pacific, the stakes are tangible. A deal that expands market access and resolves tariff and regulatory disputes could unlock new opportunities for exporters, reduce costs for importers and give investors greater certainty. The absence of a deal, by contrast, would leave both sides navigating a landscape of tariff uncertainties and ad hoc arrangements.
The coming weeks will therefore be watched closely. With both governments publicly indicating progress and their negotiating teams working through the final challenges, the summit remarks may come to be seen as a moment when the finishing line came into view — even if, as Jaishankar reminded his audience, the race is never over until it is truly run.