US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helberg, on 24 February (local time), said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump set a goal to increase trade between the US and India to $500 billion. Speaking during a congressional hearing in Washington DC, Helberg expressed strong confidence in the future of US-India trade and outlined the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" policy on Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Helberg's statement basically serves as a high-level confirmation of a major strategic and economic pivot in US-India relations under the second Trump administration. Helberg's remarks came days after the United States and India announced a framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal, mutually beneficial trade. I believe it was in the first quarter of the President's administration, PM Modi and President Trump set a goal of increasing overall bilateral trade flows to 500 billion dollars.

Source: Mint February 25, 2026 06:21 UTC