The United States (US) and India are preparing a bilateral trade agreement to deepen their economic and strategic partnership, the newly appointed US Ambassador to New Delhi, Sergio Gore, said today.
Since Russia occupied large parts of Ukraine in February 2022, India has become the second largest buyer of Russian crude oil, after China.
This alarmed the administration of US President Donald Trump, who criticized the trade as "feeding the Russian war machine in Ukraine."
In August last year, Trump signed an executive order punishing India with an additional 25 percent tariff on its imports into the US for buying Russian oil. This brought the total US tariff on imports from India to a high of 50 percent.
Trump's close aide Sergio Gore (39) has been appointed ambassador to New Delhi. He told a rally outside the embassy building today that the next phone call between the two sides on trade will be tomorrow, Tuesday.
"True friends may have disagreements, but in the end they always resolve their differences," Gore said on his first day at the Embassy in New Delhi, adding: "Remember, India is home to the greatest nation in the world, so it is no easy task to bring all of this to fruition, but we are determined to get there."
Gorkoy, who is also the US special envoy for South and Central Asia, announced that, as part of a broader partnership, India will be formally invited next month to join the US initiative "Pax Silica", which aims to ensure a reliable supply chain for silicon - from raw materials to the production of semiconductors from it, which are also essential for artificial intelligence.
Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Israel joined the initiative last month.
Gore said that trade is an important aspect of the US-India partnership, which will continue to cooperate closely in the areas of security, counterterrorism, energy, technology, education and health.
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