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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India 'hopeful' of reaching deal with US before Trump's tariff deadline
Delhi is "hopeful" of reaching a trade agreement with the US before the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on 9 July, India's foreign minister has said. In an interview with French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday, S Jaishankar, who is on a four-day visit to Belgium and France, said India and US had already begun trade negotiations before Trump unveiled his 2 April 'Liberation day' tariffs on global partners, including up to 27% on India. "Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi met with Donald Trump in February and they decided to further open access to our respective markets," Jaishankar told the paper. "We are hopeful of reaching an agreement before the end of the tariff suspension on 9 July." Earlier in the day, a US delegation held closed-door meetings with Indian trade ministry officials in Delhi. An unnamed Indian official told Reuters news agency that the recent set of trade talks with US officials had been productive and "helped in making progress towards crafting a mutually beneficial and balanced agreement including through achievement of early wins". Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn. India has already reduced tariffs on a range of goods - including Bourbon whiskey and motorcycles - but the US continues to run a $45bn (£33bn) trade deficit with India, which Trump is keen to reduce. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn, though Delhi is unlikely to offer concessions in politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Earlier this month, the White House told its trade partners that the US wants them to make their best trade offers, with the deadline fast approaching, Reuters news agency reported. Last week, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was "very optimistic" about a deal between India and US, which he said said would come in the "not too distant future". In May, Trump made global headlines by claiming that Delhi had offered to drop all tariffs on goods imported from the US. These claims were swiftly disputed by India, with the foreign minister saying that "nothing is decided till everything is". Jaishankar had previously emphasised that any trade deal must be mutually beneficial and work for both countries. Speaking separately about US foreign policy under Trump, Jaishankar told Le Figaro he sees the US "looking at things from the perspective of its immediate interest and seeking benefits for itself". "Frankly, I will do the same with them," Jaishankar added. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India set to count its population after a six-year delay
After a six-year delay, India is finally set to count its population in a two-phase census that will conclude in 2027, the government has announced. India's decennial census is one of the world's largest administrative exercises and provides critical data for planning welfare schemes, allocating federal funds, drawing electoral boundaries and making key policy decisions. It was originally due in 2021, but has been delayed several times since. The last census was conducted in 2011. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had initially cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason but critics have questioned what has taken so long to resume the exercise. On Wednesday, India's home ministry said in a statement that the much-awaited census will be conducted in two phases, with 1 March 2027 as the reference date. For the snow-bound Himalayan regions, which includes the states of Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, and the region of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, the reference date will be 1 October 2026. It did not, however, specify when the survey would actually begin. For the first time, the government will also collect the caste details - a politically and socially sensitive issue in India - of all its citizens, the statement added. The last time caste was officially counted as part of a national census was in 1931, during British colonial rule. India's census is conducted under the Census Act, 1948, which provides a legal framework for conducting the exercise, but does not specify a fixed schedule for when the census must be conducted or when its results must be published. In 2020, India was set to begin the first phase of the census - in which housing data is collected - when the pandemic hit, following which the government postponed the exercise. In the years since, the government further delayed the exercise several times without any explanation, even as life returned to normal. Experts have spoken of the consequences this could have on the world's most populous country - such as people being excluded from welfare schemes, and the incorrect allocation of resources. "The census is not simply a count of the number of people in a country. It provides invaluable data needed to make decisions at a micro level," Professor KP Kannan, a development economist, had told the BBC in 2023. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India says over 1,000 nationals deported by US since January
More than a thousand Indians have "come back or [been] deported" from the United States since January, India's foreign ministry has said. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that around 62% of them came on commercial flights, without providing more details. This comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's campaign against undocumented migrants to the US. Trump had earlier said that India "will do what's right" on the deportation of illegal migrants. In February, the US had deported more than hundred Indians on a US military flight, with reports saying some of them were brought back shackled. "We have close cooperation between India and the United States on migration issues," Mr Jaiswal said during the ministry's weekly briefing, adding that India verifies nationalities before "we take them back". In total, the US is said to have identified about 18,000 Indian nationals it believes entered the country illegally. Earlier this month, the US Embassy in India issued a warning that overstaying in the US could lead to deportation or a permanent ban on entry in the country, even for those who entered legally. Mr Jaiswal also spoke about the Trump administration's updated policy on student visas which is likely to impact Indian students planning to enrol in US universities. The US had announced on Thursday that it had halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students as it considered expanding the screening of their social media activities. "While we note that issuance of a visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit, and they will be able to join their academic programs on time," Mr Jaiswal said. Mr Jaiswal also said that 330,000 Indians students had gone to the US for studies in 2023-24 - which makes India the largest source of international students in the country. On Thursday, expanding its new visa policy, the US further announced that it was working to "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields". Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vance to meet Modi in Delhi amid tariff tensions
US Vice-President JD Vance has arrived in the Indian capital where he is due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid global trade tensions sparked by Washington's tariff policies. The talks are likely to focus on fast tracking a much-awaited bilateral trade deal between the two countries. Vance is also expected to go on a sightseeing tour of Agra and Jaipur with his family. His visit comes as countries across the world rush to negotiate a trade deal before US President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on 9 July. "The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest," India's foreign ministry said ahead of Vance's visit. The vice-president is accompanied by his children and wife Usha Vance whose parents migrated to the US from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. After his arrival in Delhi on Monday morning, Vance visited the Akshardham temple complex in Delhi. He is due to meet Modi for formal talks later in the day and Modi is to host Vance for dinner in the evening. The visit comes amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and several countries after Trump announced steep reciprocal tariffs on them. Trump, who has repeatedly called Delhi a tariff abuser, had announced a tariff of 27% on India before he temporarily paused it on 9 April. India has already slashed tariffs on some US goods, with further cuts expected as the balance of trade is still stacked heavily in favour of Delhi, which enjoys a $45bn trade surplus. India's average tariffs of around 12% are also significantly higher than the US's 2%. Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn (£144bn). Prime Minister Modi was among the first leaders to meet Trump after his inauguration. Modi hailed a "mega partnership" with the United States following his meeting with the president. Trump and Modi set an ambitious target to more than double bilateral trade to $500bn, as the two leaders announced a deal for India to import more from America, including oil and gas. Weeks later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard visited India, followed by a US delegation led by Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch. Vance's India tour is also seen as significant as Trump is likely to visit the country later this year for the Quad summit, which will also host leaders of Australia and Japan. Speaking about Vance's engagements in India, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal last week said Delhi was "very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties". Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vance to meet Modi in Delhi amid tariff tensions
US Vice-President JD Vance has arrived in the Indian capital where he is due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid global trade tensions sparked by Washington's tariff policies. The talks are likely to focus on fast tracking a much-awaited bilateral trade deal between the two countries. Vance is also expected to go on a sightseeing tour of Agra and Jaipur with his family. His visit comes as countries across the world rush to negotiate a trade deal before US President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on 9 July. "The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest," India's foreign ministry said ahead of Vance's visit. The vice-president is accompanied by his children and wife Usha Vance whose parents migrated to the US from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. After his arrival in Delhi on Monday morning, Vance visited the Akshardham temple complex in Delhi. He is due to meet Modi for formal talks later in the day and Modi is to host Vance for dinner in the evening. The visit comes amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and several countries after Trump announced steep reciprocal tariffs on them. Trump, who has repeatedly called Delhi a tariff abuser, had announced a tariff of 27% on India before he temporarily paused it on 9 April. India has already slashed tariffs on some US goods, with further cuts expected as the balance of trade is still stacked heavily in favour of Delhi, which enjoys a $45bn trade surplus. India's average tariffs of around 12% are also significantly higher than the US's 2%. Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn (£144bn). Prime Minister Modi was among the first leaders to meet Trump after his inauguration. Modi hailed a "mega partnership" with the United States following his meeting with the president. Trump and Modi set an ambitious target to more than double bilateral trade to $500bn, as the two leaders announced a deal for India to import more from America, including oil and gas. Weeks later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard visited India, followed by a US delegation led by Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch. Vance's India tour is also seen as significant as Trump is likely to visit the country later this year for the Quad summit, which will also host leaders of Australia and Japan. Speaking about Vance's engagements in India, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal last week said Delhi was "very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties". Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
