Former US Ambassador to India Atul Keshap said Wednesday that the first face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump since February 2025 puts the world’s two largest democracies in position to finalise a trade framework worth up to $500 billion, even as he warned that the two countries are in a direct AI competition with rival powers that neither can afford to lose.
Keshap, now President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), made the remarks in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, speaking from a moment of rare bilateral momentum: the India-UK trade deal is set to take effect on July 15, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is expected in New Delhi next week to work through the final thousand
of the 12,000 tariff lines on the table.
#TheRightStand | “When the leaders of the world’s two biggest democracies meet and hold talks, it sends a very powerful signal to the rest of the world..” says AMB (R) Atul Keshap @AnchorAnandN | #India #UK #FTA #Trade pic.twitter.com/xcmKO00z9f
— News18 (@CNNnews18) June 17, 2026
‘Powerful & Positive Symbol To The World’
Keshap was unambiguous about the France summit’s significance. “It sends a very powerful and positive signal to the world that our two countries are talking,” he told CNN-News18. The meeting came after months of tough negotiations and a gap of nearly four months since the two leaders last met in person, a stretch during which the absence of any formal trade architecture between Washington and New Delhi had become an increasingly visible problem for businesses on both sides.
11,000 of the 12,000 tariff lines between the two countries are now resolved. The remaining thousand, Keshap suggested, need a particular kind of discipline. “Isolate wherever there are disagreements or problems that cannot be overcome for a future date,” he said, “but at least put together the vast majority of the tariff lines in a way that can empower and unlock even greater prosperity for both countries.” Greer’s arrival next week will test whether that discipline holds.
No Framework Means No Recourse
The absence of a bilateral trade framework is not an abstract problem. Right now, Indian companies operating in the United States and American companies operating in India have no formal recourse when disputes arise. Keshap described that gap as the single biggest obstacle to growing the relationship to its stated $500 billion target.
“The most important thing about the agreement is that it creates predictability,” and “a framework for investors and traders in both directions,” he said. Without it, the confidence necessary for trade to scale simply does not exist.
AI, Energy, Nuclear, & Defence
Keshap went beyond trade to name four areas where he said the two countries have the least margin for error: artificial intelligence, energy, nuclear cooperation, and defence. On AI, he said, “The US and India are in a foot race together on AI against other rival powers and it is important that we get it right,” he said. That foot race also connects to India’s energy needs. Powering an AI-capable India at scale will require the kind of energy and nuclear cooperation that only a partnership with the United States can fully provide, he added.
“India is rising rapidly on the global stage,” Keshap said. “We need to ensure that India and America win the AI race against China while also helping power India’s future.” Greer lands next week. The clock on that race is already running.
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-178173322250640939.webp)
