‘Two great nations will get this solved’: Scott Bessent says on India-US trade talks, dismisses SCO summit as ‘performative’

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent (Image: Reuters)

Hours after US President Donald Trump said India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent expressed confidence that Washington and New Delhi could resolve the current trade frictions, saying, “Two great countries will get this solved.”

However, he criticised India’s continued imports of Russian crude, which he said risked fuelling Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Bessent said, “I think at the end of the day, two great countries will get this solved.”

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, Bessent said it’s largely performative.

"This is a longstanding meeting, it's called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and I think it's largely performative," he said.

"I think at the end of the day, India is the most populous democracy in the world. Their values are much closer to ours and to China's than to Russia's," he added.

Bessent, however, was critical of India’s energy trade with Moscow. “The Indians have not been great actors in terms of buying Russian oil and then reselling it, financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine,” he told Fox News.

He also highlighted that the slow progress in India-US trade talks was one of the reasons behind Washington’s decision to raise tariffs.

Bessent further added that “all options are on the table” as the Trump administration considers further measures against Russia, accusing Vladimir Putin of escalating attacks despite ongoing peace talks.

Earlier, Trump said that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero. While calling the US relationship with India "one sided", Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago."

Trump's remark came as Prime Minister Modi was in China for the SCO summit which saw the participation of over 20 leaders of non-Western countries. On the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi interacted with Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping -- in a closely watched move amid Trump's imposition of tariffs of New Delhi over the purchase of Russian oil.