India-U.S. deal has reached plateau where further demands, concessions will be very difficult: Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that trade negotiations between India and the U.S. have reached a plateau, making further concessions difficult. She also discussed the complexities of trade imbalances and the weaponization of tariffs in global trade relations.
Why it matters
Highlights the shifting dynamics of international trade policy and the challenges of maintaining balanced economic relationships between major global powers.
The India-U.S. trade deal has reached a “plateau” in negotiations where it will now be “very difficult” to add to the list of demands and concessions that have been agreed to, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday (October 5, 2026).
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ms. Sitharaman said that the topic of India’s imports of Russian oil did not feature as a condition during the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, which is set to be signed in December this year.
“One thing about the U.S. agreement, which is yet to get finalised, it has been a hard and very rigorously negotiated agreement,” the Finance Minister said. “The negotiations are still ongoing but we would like to believe that both sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very difficult.”
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