New Delhi: India Thursday maintained that amendments to the factsheet released by the White House on the trade deal were made keeping in mind the joint statement agreed to between both parties.
“As you are aware, the India-U.S. Joint Statement on the framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade was issued on 7 February 2026. The Joint Statement is the framework and remains the basis of our mutual understanding in the matter. Both sides will now work towards implementing this framework and finalizing the Interim Agreement. The amendments in the US fact sheet reflect the shared understandings contained in the Joint Statement,” Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a regular press briefing.
Controversy broke out after the White House issued a factsheet Monday that had additions not found in previous documents, including the joint statement. The White House factsheet claimed that India “committed to purchasing $500 billion worth of American goods, while asserting that New Delhi is set to procure “certain pulses” from the US as well.
The document led to calls from the Indian opposition that the government had sold out to American demands on opening the agricultural sector. The factsheet was quietly amended Wednesday, where “committed to” was changed to “intends to”, the reference to pulses was removed and “agriculture” as a category of India’s intended purchases from the US was removed.
The original factsheet also asserted that India is going to be purchasing agricultural products. New Delhi has maintained that it allows the imports of certain agricultural products for use as animal feed.
The India-US trade deal announced 2 February, will see New Delhi eliminate or reduce tariffs on a number of American industrial products and some agricultural products. In exchange, the US will reduce its tariffs imposed on India from 50 per cent to 18 per cent. The deal is considered “historic” and has for the time being solved the major differences between the two countries on trade.
However, the White House factsheet maintains that India will commit to not purchasing Russian oil. The US imposed a punitive tariff of 25 per cent due to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil last August. While these tariffs have been removed due to the deal, India has not confirmed the US’ claims on the commitment.
Jaiswal Thursday said that India and Russia have “ongoing cooperation across a range of issues from trade, to people ties and defence. All this will continue forward.”
India’s purchases of Russian oil have seen a dip following the US sanctions imposed on two of Moscows largest oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil last October.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)