EAM meets US Treasury Secretary Bessent; discusses economic partnership, strategic cooperation

New York (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and held a discussion on advancing bilateral economic partnership and strategic cooperation.

"Pleased to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington DC today. Had a useful discussion on advancement of India-US economic partnership and strategic cooperation," Jaishankar said in an X post on Tuesday.

Pleased to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington DC today. @SecScottBessent

Had a useful discussion on advancement of India - US economic partnership and strategic cooperation.

🇮🇳 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/tfNMpTT8wH

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 3, 2026

In a post, Bessent said he enjoyed his meeting with Jaishankar. "During our talks, we addressed the importance of securing supply chains, as well as other national and economic security issues of mutual interest," he said.

Jaishankar is on a visit to the United States from February 2-4 and will participate in the Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.

Jaishankar also held bilateral discussions with Rubio at the State Department, when the two "welcomed" the trade deal reached between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and also discussed "formalising" bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration and mining.

Jaishankar's meeting with both Bessent and Rubio came a day after Trump announced on Truth Social that India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington will bring down the reciprocal tariffs it imposed on New Delhi from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.

Bessent had been critical of India's purchases of Russian oil. Last week, in the wake of the free trade agreement between India and the European Union, he had described the Europeans as "very disappointing", stating they were unwilling to join Washington in putting tariffs on New Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil because of this trade deal.

"The US sanctioned or put a 25 per cent tariff on India for buying the Russian oil. The Europeans were unwilling to join us and it turns out because they wanted to do this trade deal. So, every time you hear a European talk about the importance of the Ukrainian people, remember that they put trade ahead of the Ukrainian people. Trade -- European trade -- more important than ending the war in Ukraine," Bessent had said.