External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said the US administration under President Donald Trump is moving towards multipolarity which suits India’s interests. He said the two nations have agreed on the need for a bilateral trade pact.Jaishankar was speaking during a session titled ‘India’s rise and its role in the world’ at the Chatham House think tank in London.
“We see a president and an administration which, in our parlance, is moving towards multipolarity and that is something that suits India,” said Jaishankar, who is on a six-day visit to the UK and Ireland.
“From President Trump’s perspective, the one big shared enterprise that we have is the Quad, which is an understanding where everybody pays their fair share… There are no free riders involved. So that’s a good model which works,” he said. The Quad alliance consists of the US, India, Australia and Japan.On the specific issue of tariffs, the minister noted that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington to discuss a bilateral trade pact, following discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump at the White House in February.
“We see a president and an administration which, in our parlance, is moving towards multipolarity and that is something that suits India,” said Jaishankar, who is on a six-day visit to the UK and Ireland.
“From President Trump’s perspective, the one big shared enterprise that we have is the Quad, which is an understanding where everybody pays their fair share… There are no free riders involved. So that’s a good model which works,” he said. The Quad alliance consists of the US, India, Australia and Japan.On the specific issue of tariffs, the minister noted that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington to discuss a bilateral trade pact, following discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump at the White House in February.
“We had a very open conversation about it (tariffs) and the result of that conversation was that we agreed on the need for a bilateral trade agreement,” he said.
Trump has announced reciprocal tariffs on India, China and other countries from April 2. Trump has criticised the high tariffs charged by India and other countries, including China, and termed it “very unfair”.
