India and the U.S. are expected to soon announce a bilateral trade package. What’s there on the platter is yet to unfold. There are anticipations though that the deal will entail concrete plan of actions or decisions to address a number of trade irritants that keeps recurring. Secondly, it is expected provide some stimulus on achieving a long term vision that governs bilateral trade and economic relations.

A broader framework is important from the point of view of defining and addressing immediate and long term issues. The U.S. concerns about trade deficit with India are being met by increasing Indian imports of oil and gas, civil aviation and defence equipment from the country. This is likely to improve in proportion with advances made in government to government relations between the two countries.
 
It is now time for developing certain bigger plans and set a direction to long term trade and economic relations based on shared values, people to people contacts and geopolitical interests.

Let us hope that the deal would not be a disappointment for the businesses and people of the two countries as was in the case of the U.S.-China trade deal to civil society, policy makers and businesses, globally.

Sadly, the U.S.-China trade deal is widely rebuffed as a protracted and low impact agreement. Even though, the hopes from the phase two agreement that is likely to cover issues pertaining to Chinese State-owned Enterprises and industrial subsidies, among others, are greater but it is unlikely to take place before the U.S. presidential election this year.  A detente on the trade war will hopefully remain until then.

Wish the U.S. trade package with India is not the same in terms of delivery, given the nature and scale of bilateral partnership now and in the years to come.