NEW DELHI: The United States sees India as a key partner in emerging technologies and expects bilateral ties to deepen as both countries work towards an interim trade agreement, US trade representative ambassador Jamieson Greer said amid ongoing negotiations between New Delhi and Washington.Speaking about his initial impressions of India, Greer said the country is building on its traditional strengths while expanding its focus on technology and artificial intelligence.”We know that India has a long history of agriculture and manufacturing, but they are moving forward in technology.They want to move forward in AI. They want to cooperate and coordinate with the United States on the technologies of the future, and trade in the future.Some of the exciting opportunities that we will have between the US and India is to capitalise on them.”Asked how the Trump administration envisions the future of the US-India trade relationship, Greer said President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have laid the foundation for closer cooperation.”President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have an amazing relationship. They have nurtured it over many years. Just last week, they met at the G7 in France, and they agreed to take the relationship to the next level. The trade deal that we are working on included every aspect of the relationship. We expect the relationship to continue developing and only going to higher and higher levels with every passing week.”The remarks come as India and the United States are negotiating an interim trade agreement ahead of the July 24 deadline, when the temporary 10% US tariffs are due to expire. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Greer recently concluded another round of ministerial-level discussions in New Delhi aimed at resolving the remaining differences.The proposed interim agreement is expected to serve as the first phase of a broader Comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement. Negotiators are working to bridge differences over market access, tariff reductions and non-tariff barriers.As part of the negotiations, India has proposed large-scale purchases of US products across sectors including energy, aircraft, technology goods and coking coal. The proposed purchases could be worth as much as $500 billion over the next five years and are aimed at strengthening long-term economic ties between the two countries.
