- India and the US remain in continuous talks on a balanced trade and tariff arrangement
- Successful launch of a US commercial satellite marks a major space partnership milestone
- 2025 described as a “pioneering year” for bilateral civil space cooperation
- Joint missions like NISAR and Axiom-4 underscore growing scientific collaboration
- Technology, AI, and innovation remain central to the broader bilateral agenda
India continues to engage closely with the United States to finalize a mutually beneficial and balanced trade agreement, India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra said, underscoring steady progress in one of the most consequential economic relationships in the world.
“On trade and tariff...we remain very constantly engaged with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) with the hope to find a mutually beneficial and balanced trade arrangement as early as possible,” Kwatra told PTI in an exclusive interview.
Kwatra emphasized that momentum across the bilateral relationship was set earlier this year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, where he met President Donald Trump shortly after the start of Trump’s second term.
“Our effort all along, right through this whole year, the tone for the relationship was set during the Prime Minister's visit in early February. We agreed on a significant outcome document across a range of areas. Space was one of them,” he said.
That cooperation was on display this week when India successfully launched a next-generation American commercial communications satellite. Kwatra described the mission as a major achievement for both nations.
Calling it a “very important and big day” for the partnership, he said the launch capped a series of accomplishments in bilateral space cooperation during 2025.
In a historic first, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s heaviest rocket, LVM3-M6, placed the BlueBird-6 (Block-2) satellite—developed by US-based AST SpaceMobile—into its precise orbit. It was the heaviest commercial satellite ever launched from Indian soil, reinforcing India’s growing stature as a reliable provider of heavy-lift launch services.
Following the February summit, both leaders declared 2025 a “pioneering year” for civil space collaboration. The joint statement highlighted plans for NASA and ISRO to work with Axiom Space to send the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station, as well as the early launch of the NISAR mission.
Kwatra pointed to those commitments becoming reality. He referenced the Axiom-4 Mission, which carried Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to the ISS, and noted that the ISRO–NASA NISAR Earth observation mission is now operational.
“And if you look at the areas which we have plotted in the field of space, you can easily see 10 months down the line, they have mostly, if not all of them, achieved really,” he said.
Beyond space, Kwatra said cooperation is expanding across trade, science, technology, and artificial intelligence.
“We continue to work very, very proactively in other areas also including in the fields of trade, science and technology, artificial intelligence,” he said, adding that extensive outreach is underway ahead of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this February.
“Technology has been a very principal domain of our engagement,” Kwatra added.
