New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in a significant diplomatic encounter, expressed delight at meeting the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai in Delhi on Friday.

The meeting focused on the substantial progress in bilateral trade between India and the United States in recent years.

On social media platform X, EAM Jaishankar shared his appreciation for the positive trajectory of economic collaboration between the two nations. The post on X read, "Delighted to meet USTR @AmbassadorTai today in Delhi. Appreciate the tremendous progress in our bilateral trade in recent years."

Minister Jaishankar also expressed gratitude for Ambassador Tai's valuable insights into challenges facing the international economy. "Also value @USTradeRep's perspective on challenges to the international economy," his post added.

United States Trade Representative Tai arrived in New Delhi to co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meetings of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

US Trade Representative Tai will be in New Delhi from January 12 to January 14.

On her first day of the visit, Tai will meet with Piyush Goyal, following which she will co-chair the 14th ministerial-level meetings of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum with Minister Goyal.

The United States-India Trade Policy Forum was established in 2010 and plays an important role in strengthening and expanding the bilateral economic and trade relationship. Moreover, under both ministers' leadership, the Trade Policy Forum has helped remove trade barriers and facilitate cooperation on key issues.

During this year's meeting of the Trade Policy Forum, Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal will discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including agriculture, industrial products, services, and the protection of intellectual property, among other topics.

Later, Ambassador Tai will meet with India's Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar.

On January 13, Ambassador Tai will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration's engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries.

The United States-India trade relationship has continued to grow stronger and benefit both nations throughout the past year as Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal reached several milestone agreements that deliver crucial market access for American farmers and producers and high-quality products to Indian consumers.

These included a 70 per cent reduction of the tariff on pecans and the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents.

Moreover, it included commitments for additional tariff reductions on frozen turkey and frozen duck, as well as fresh, frozen, dried, and processed blueberries and cranberries.

Furthermore, the US and India have also reached agreements to resolve all seven of their outstanding World Trade Organisation disputes.

Additional details on Ambassador Tai's schedule will be provided at a later date.

India and the US are natural partners and have trade complementarities, long-standing strategic and economic relationships, and people-to-people contact, and both are vibrant democracies too.

The two nations are also collaborating under other frameworks, such as QUAD and I2U2 (India-Israel, UAE-US). Regular exchanges at the leadership level have been an integral element of the expanding bilateral engagement.