The US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, said that the United States could reach a trade agreement soon with New Delhi. Lutnick touched upon various pain points between the two nations and suggested that India should scale back its involvement in BRICS and maintain cordial business relations with the US.
He said that India rubbed the US the wrong way after buying military equipment from its BRICS counterpart, Russia. “There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the United States the wrong way. For instance, generally buying your military gear from Russia,” he said. To mend things, he said that the Modi government is now buying military arms from the US. “So I think India is starting to move towards buying military equipment from the United States, which then goes a long way,” he added.
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BRICS: US Urges India To Open Up Their Markets: ‘We Want Access to Business and Finance’
Reports suggest that the US is using India as a stepping stone to disintegrate the BRICS alliance. Many countries tried to reach out to the US with new trade deals after Trump imposed tariffs on various goods. Lutnick appreciated India’s efforts to be among the early countries to amend trade policies that could benefit the US. “I think India is trying hard to be one of the earlier countries (to reach a trade deal with the US), which I appreciated,” he said.
He added that the US would want access to BRICS member India’s markets to reduce the trade deficit. “But what I hope to achieve is we would like market access. We would like our businesses to have reasonable access to the markets of India. We want to have the trade deficit reduced,” he said in a keynote speech at an event promoting US-India economic ties in Washington.
Lutnick revealed that the US will also allow special access to BRICS member India if it opens up its markets. “Now, in exchange for that, what India is going to want is certain key markets to make sure that they have special access to the American marketplace,” he summed it up.
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India Had Rejected De-Dollarization Early This Year
BRICS member India had openly stated that the country is disinterested in the de-dollarization agenda. The Modi government made it clear that they want cordial ties with the US and not upend existing trade deals. India’s GDP is growing, and without the help of the US, business transactions would come to a standstill. Cutting ties with America is a risky affair for the Modi government, as the Prime Minister does not want to hamper the growing GDP of the country.
In addition, India hosts the largest IT sector of the U.S and the two have been going hand-in-hand for three decades. If the country messes up with its IT sector, businesses could move to other developing countries. Therefore, BRICS member India will have more to lose than gain if it ends its reliance on the US dollar.
Also, Trump has always called Modi his good friend, and the two share warm and gracious relations. Both leaders highly praise the other, calling each other’s decisions tough and bold. India is the only country in BRICS that has openly shown support for the US dollar by rejecting de-dollarization.
The US knows that BRICS member India has a huge market with potential returns worth billions of dollars. Its population of 1.4 billion people holds the key to revenues and profits worth millions and billions. Elon Musk’s Starlink is also looking at an entry into the Indian markets to provide high-speed internet connections. They are also planning to make the pricing affordable to cater to a larger section of the Indian audience.