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3 min readNew DelhiFeb 11, 2026 04:12 AM IST
According to officials, the joint statement on the India-US trade deal was the only binding document on the deal, and the government would not respond to other statements from the US side.
The government was said to have told a Parliamentary committee Tuesday that the tariff being imposed by the US should not be compared to the situation before Donald Trump became US President, and that India was only going to adhere and pay heed to the joint statement between the two countries on the trade deal.
Officials were said to have made remarks to the effect at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. The meeting was attended by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and chief negotiator for the India-US trade deal Darpan Jain and MPs from the ruling and opposition parties.
According to officials, the joint statement on the India-US trade deal was the only binding document on the deal, and the government would not respond to other statements from the US side.
Officials said India intended to import goods worth USD 500, and the trade deal between India and the US was the best possible and should be viewed in the context of the dynamic geopolitical situation.
After the meeting, Tharoor called the meeting “extremely effective” and said it lasted for over three hours. and that 28 of the 30 members attended.
“The officials have responded to each and every question in great detail with confidence. It was an extremely effective meeting and an example of what the committees can do,” he told reporters.
Tharoor said much of the meeting time was devoted to the Indo-US trade deal and India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and all subjects including Russian oil and agricultural products were discussed.
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He said officials conveyed to the committee that India will work on finalising the interim agreement with the US and people will have to wait for its finer details.
On the reciprocal tariff of 18 per cent to be levied by the US, Tharoor said trade has been weaponised in international commerce.
“India is among the countries which got the lowest rate. Even EU products will face a 15 per cent tariff, products from the UK will face a 10 per cent tariff in return for a zero tariff,” he said.
“This will also be discussed in Parliament. Some details we will have to wait for, particularly with regards to the US. We have to wait for the interim agreement. It will come next month,” he said.
Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More
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