S Jaishankar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discuss Early Conclusion of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement

New Delhi: India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has held talks with US counterpart and Secretary Of State Marco Rubio amid global turmoil post Donald Trump ’s reciprocal tariffs announcement, as markets continue to remain in red zone and investors across the world losing a major chunk of their wealth worth in billions.

The two held conversations over phone and discussed crisis in different regions including West Asia, Europe and Caribbean.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that they exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Specific, the Indian Sub-Continent, Europe and Middle East/West Asia and the Carribean.

EAM Jaishankar further informed that they both agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement.

Taking to X, Jaishankar wrote, “Good to speak with today. Exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific,  the Indian Sub-continent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean. Agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. Look forward to remaining in touch.”

The two held discussions on India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement amid announcement of Donald Trump's 26% reciprocal tariffs on India.    

Impact of Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs

Donald Trump imposed his much anticipated reciprocal tariffs on 133 nations including India, China, Japan, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, UK, Europe, Pakistan , Bangladesh , Thailand, Singapore and almost every nation with whom it engages in bilateral trade.

Ever since Trump imposed whopping tariffs on partner trading nations, there has been a bloodbath on the Wall Street after major stocks including Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ among others have remained in red zone.

Moreover, US billionaires including Elon Musk — Trump’s close aide and DOGE head, Amazon ’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, among many others have witnessed a major chunk of their wealth getting wiped out.

Warren Buffett is the only US business major whose shares remained in green.