Brushing aside US President Donald Trump’s claims of helping diffuse military tension between India and Pakistan through various means, including trade, New Delhi has reiterated that it had not sought US mediation as it could handle its neigbour on its own. Simultaneously, India and the US are holding a meeting of senior officials in New Delhi this week to push forward the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by exchanging finer offers on tariff cuts, notwithstanding Trump’s efforts to link trade with Indo-Pak ties, sources said. “We have enormous respect for the American Presidency and the American President. All we can say for ourselves is that we have never particularly wanted to ask anyone to mediate..,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said at the National Press Club, Washington DC on Wednesday. Tharoor is heading a multi-party delegation to explain India’s position to the US on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism following the Pahalgam attack. Tariffs on table Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had helped broker peace between India and Pakistan during the military stand-off last month. He recently asserted that the US would not strike a trade deal with either country if they kept using violence against each other. Washington, however, seems quite keen to strike a trade deal with India if it serves to bring down its bilateral trade deficit with the country, currently at over $40 billion per annum. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier this week that there was a lot of scope for India to bring down its high tariffs to a “reasonable and appropriate” level to reduce the US trade deficit and a trade deal was possible soon. Lutnick also promised to offer India benefits as a trade-off, but did not specify in what form. He made no suggestions, whatsoever, connecting the potential deal with India and Pakistan relationship. ‘No dialogue at gunpoint’ Tharoor said that the US has understood for some time now that India has a very clear position that there will be no talks with a gun pointed at its head. “It’s not that we can’t talk to Pakistan. …we can speak all the languages they can speak…,” he said. “The problem is we will not dialogue with people who are pointing a gun at our heads,” he added. On April 2, Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on most of America’s trading partners holding trade surpluses. He announced 26 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India. He then paused the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, with the exception of a 10 per cent baseline tariff, to allow countries to work out trade deals with the US before July 9. With India, the US is seeking market access for a number of items such as automobiles, motor cycles, alcoholic beverages and agricultural items, which may be sensitive for the country. Published on June 5, 2025