Indian envoy to US meets US Trade Representative amid talks on finalising trade deal
Washington (PTI): Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien here.
The meeting on Wednesday comes as India and the US are negotiating the finer elements of a bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
A delegation of Indian officials is expected to visit the US to hold discussions on the bilateral trade agreement.
“Honored to host Amb. Jamieson Greer and Amb. Robert O’Brien at India House today,” Kwatra said in a post on X on Wednesday.
In February, India and the US announced finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent.
“We had productive conversation on a range of bilateral cooperation opportunities. Also discussed important developments across the world. Appreciate their strong and continuing support for strong India-US ties,” Kwatra said.
Bilateral trade was part of the discussion during the recent visit of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Washington last week.
On February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump's tariffs policies imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) were unconstitutional.
India and the US were initially planning to sign the trade deal in March, but changes in the tariff landscape following the US Supreme Court ruling have altered the situation.
Official sources have earlier stated that the agreement will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place.
The trade negotiations also come under the cloud of two investigations launched by the US Trade Representative under Section 301 that deals with failure to enforce prohibition on imports of goods produced using forced labour and over capacity production in certain manufacturing sectors by some countries, including China and India.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Few schools in Chandigarh get bomb threat emails
Chandigarh (PTI): A few schools in Chandigarh received bomb threat through emails on Thursday, prompting authorities to launch anti-sabotage checks at the educational institutions, officials said.
After receiving information about threat emails, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, and other teams, including police, ambulances and fire brigade were rushed to schools, they said.
They said search and santisation operations were underway at the schools.
The fresh scare comes close on the heels of similar threats in the past few weeks at multiple places in Punjab and Haryana, where such emails later turned out to be hoaxes
A few days ago, several schools in Patiala and Moga received bomb threat emails in Punjab but nothing suspicious was found.
