Sign up here.The US and India have been edging closer for years. Washington sees India as a key regional counterweight against a more assertive China, while for New Delhi, the US has become an increasingly important source of foreign investment and a partner for trade and security.

President Donald Trump has said he'll start imposing tariffs on countries that don't reach trade deals within "two, three" weeks. In a press conference on Wednesday in the Oval Office, Trump said he thought the US would get "great deals" in its trade negotiations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he expects India to strike the first bilateral trade deal to avoid President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, according to the New York Post. A 26 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff on Indian exports to the US is currently on a pause set to expire on July 8.