External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York on Monday for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the high-level 80th session of the UNGA.
This will mark the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on India over its continued purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total U.S. tariffs on India under the Trump administration to 50 percent.
The meeting is expected to include discussions on trade relations and the controversial USD 100,000 H-1B visa fee hike, a move that has drawn criticism from US tech giants as well as concerns among Indian professionals.
Officials described the talks as a continuation of efforts to enhance relations and bridge divides that have emerged in recent months.
Rubio and Jaishankar last met in July during the QUAD Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Washington, D.C. The latest interaction comes against the backdrop of a recent revival in India-U.S. relations with the restoration of bilateral trade talks earlier this month.
The bilateral talks coincide with discussions between India and the U.S. aimed at concluding a long-pending trade agreement. A high-level delegation led by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will meet the U.S. side in New York.
“The delegation plans to take forward the discussions with a view to achieving early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
In its first response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise the fee for H-1B visas to USD 100,000 annually, India on Saturday said the measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families, and expressed hope that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US. authorities.
India and the United States resumed trade negotiations last Tuesday (September 16) in New Delhi. The talks marked the first in-person engagement since Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports last month.The talks, which lasted nearly seven hours, focused on advancing a long-pending bilateral trade agreement.
Last Tuesday’s meeting was not the sixth round of negotiations, which had stalled in August, but a dialogue to set the stage for the next round.
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