Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump have set ambitious goals for bilateral trade by announcing plans to finalise the first tranche of a trade agreement by the end of 2025 and expand trade to more than USD 500 billion by 2030.

The decisions were announced after extensive bilateral discussions between the two leaders at the White House in Washington DC on Thursday (February 13, 2025).

“Today, we have set a target of more than doubling bilateral trade to 500 billion dollars by 2030. Our teams will work on an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Trade Agreement,” Prime Minister Modi said at a joint press conference with President Trump after their talks.

‘Mission 500’ for India-US Bilateral Trade
During their discussions, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump set a bold new goal for bilateral trade – “Mission 500” – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

“They resolved to deepen the U.S.-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation,” the Joint statement issued after their meeting said. 

On plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025, the leaders committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT. 

To advance this innovative, wide-ranging BTA, the US and India will take an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector, and will work towards increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration, the Joint Statement said.

Strengthening Cooperation in the Energy Sector
According to the joint statement, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump “re-committed” to the U.S.-India Energy Security Partnership, including in oil, gas, and civil nuclear energy.

“We will strengthen the oil and gas trade to ensure India’s energy security. Investment in energy infrastructure will also increase,” Prime Minister Modi said. 

The two sides had reached an agreement on energy which would make the US the leading supplier of oil and gas to India and hopefully the number one supplier, President Trump said at the joint press conference.

The leaders announced their commitment to fully realize the U.S.-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement by moving forward with plans to work together to build U.S.-designed nuclear reactors in India through large scale localization and possible technology transfer, the joint statement noted. 

“In the nuclear energy sector, we also talked about increasing cooperation in the direction of Small Modular Reactors,” Prime Minister Modi said.

President Trump, on his part, noted that India was reforming its laws to welcome US nuclear technology. This would bring clean, safe, and affordable electricity to millions of Indians.

According to the joint statement, both sides welcomed the recent Budget announcement by Government of India to take up amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) for nuclear reactors, and further decided to establish bilateral arrangements in accordance with CLNDA, that would address the issue of civil liability and facilitate the collaboration of Indian and U.S. industry in the production and deployment of nuclear reactors. 

“This path forward will unlock plans to build large U.S.-designed reactors and enable collaboration to develop, deploy and scale up nuclear power generation with advanced small modular reactors,” the statement noted.