Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra meets UPS CEO Carol Tome, says "Indian economy offers exciting opportunities for global business partnerships"
Washington DC, August 4
India's Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, on Monday said the growing India-US economic partnership presents significant opportunities in innovation, manufacturing and global business collaboration following his meeting with UPS Chief Executive Officer Carol Tome.
In a post on X, Kwatra said the discussions focused on strengthening economic ties, resilient supply chains, logistics connectivity and UPS's expanding footprint in India.
"Delighted to meet Carol Tome, CEO of @UPS. We discussed the growing India-US economic partnership, resilient supply chains, logistics connectivity, and UPS's expanding investments, engagement and presence in India. Indian economy offers exciting opportunities in innovation, manufacturing, and global business partnerships," Kwatra posted.
The meeting comes amid continued efforts by New Delhi and Washington to deepen economic engagement, including negotiations for a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Last week, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha that India remains engaged with the United States on the proposed BTA while closely monitoring developments related to tariffs.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said the government is studying all tariff-related developments and remains in continuous consultation with stakeholders, including farmers, agricultural exporters, industry bodies, export promotion councils and state governments, to safeguard India's trade interests.
The minister said negotiating teams from both countries met in Washington, DC, from April 20 to 22 and in New Delhi from June 1 to 4. The US Trade Representative also visited New Delhi from June 22 to 24 as part of the ongoing discussions.
According to the government, India and the United States launched negotiations for the Bilateral Trade Agreement following the leaders' meeting in February 2025 under the "Mission 500" initiative, which aims to expand bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.
The Centre also informed Parliament that an interim trade deal framework was announced in February 2026. It added that the additional 25 per cent tariff earlier imposed by the United States on certain Indian exports over India's imports of Russian oil has since been removed.
The government further noted that while reciprocal tariffs are no longer in force following a US Supreme Court judgment, a 10 per cent tariff imposed by the United States under Section 122 of the US Trade Act, 1974, continues to apply to certain products.
The Centre said it continues to support exporters through measures such as the Export Promotion Mission, the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters and trade relief measures introduced by the Reserve Bank of India as negotiations with the United States continue.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As someone who works in cross-border logistics, I can say UPS expanding in India is a big deal. The infrastructure improvements in Indian warehousing and last-mile delivery have been remarkable. This kind of partnership will only accelerate that progress.
Good news but let's not get too excited. The 10% tariff under Section 122 is still hurting our exporters. I hope the BTA negotiations address these issues seriously. Our MSME sector needs concrete relief, not just optimistic statements.
The removal of the extra 25% tariff over Russian oil imports is a positive signal. These diplomatic back-channel talks are finally yielding results. Now we need similar progress on the remaining tariffs. Supply chain resilience is the need of the hour for both countries.
Interesting to see the strategic positioning here. India is becoming a critical node in global supply chains, and US companies recognize that. The combination of India's manufacturing push and US logistics expertise could be transformative for both economies.
I appreciate that the government is consulting farmers and exporters, but we need more transparency on what exactly is being negotiated. A $500 billion target sounds great on paper, but our farmers are worried about cheaper imports. Hopefully the BTA protects their interests.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.