'Detailing of trade negotiations underway': Jaishankar on India-US trade deal

EAM S Jaishankar with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Wednesday met with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Critical Minerals meeting hosted by the US State Department.

The foreign minister's visit coincides with the agreement between two of the World's largest democracies on a trade deal.

On the trade deal, Jaishankar on Thursday said that a detailed account of the negotiations is now underway. The two sides are expected to issue a joint statement on the exact tenets of the deal soon.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the Critical Minerals meet in Washington DC EAM Jaishankar said, "It was not with me, because that is being handled by Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal (the negotiations on the trade deal). The Prime Minister and the US President had a conversation; some announcements came out of it. Thereafter, a detailing of the trade negotiations is underway as we speak."

The EAM further elaborated that Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal would detail the timelines on the formal announcement of the deal.

"It is hard for me to say, and the Commerce Minister would know it better, because he is in direct engagement with the US Trade Representative," he said, ANI reported.

Jaishankar meets Marco Rubio

Earlier on Wednesday, S Jaishankar, who is in Washington, met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and discussed formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining, and processing. According to Jaishankar, several facets of the India-US strategic partnership were covered during the discussions, including trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology.

In a post on X, the foreign minister said that both leaders agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests.

According to a statement issued by Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Rubio and Jaishankar welcomed the India-US trade deal reached between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The two leaders emphasised the importance of our democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance our shared energy security goals," the statement said.

"Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar concluded their meeting by expressing their commitment to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Quad. They acknowledged that a prosperous Indo-Pacific region remains vital to advancing our shared interests," the statement added.

Jaishankar attends Critical Mineral meeting

Meanwhile, in the US, the EAM also underlined the importance of the Critical Minerals ministerial meet that he was part of.

"It was a very good discussion. Critical minerals are a very important subject. The US has been partnering up for some years. Today, they launched a new initiative called FORGE, which we have supported. It's a kind of successor to the Mineral Security Partnership. Overall, to me, it was a good meeting, very productive, very outcome-oriented, and very businesslike, and that was the core reason I came," he said, ANI reported.

In his address to the minesterial Jaishankar said that "excessive concentration" in critical mineral supply chains poses a major global risk and called for structured international cooperation to "de-risk" them, as India deepens engagement with the US-led framework on strategic minerals.