'US, India In A Foot Race On AI': E US Envoy Says Modi-Trump Meeting Signals Bigger Tech Push

Published 17 June 2026 · local

'US, India In A Foot Race On AI': E US Envoy Says Modi-Trump Meeting Signals Bigger Tech Push Published By, Edited By Last Updated: June

'US, India In A Foot Race On AI': E US Envoy Says Modi-Trump Meeting Signals Bigger Tech Push Published By, Edited By Last Updated: June 17, 2026, 22:10 IST US Ambassador Atul Keshap says India and America are racing China on AI, with 11,000 of 12,000 tariff lines cleared and a $500 billion trade framework within reach. Rapid Read U.S. President Donald Trump (C-R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting at the G7 Summit on June 17, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Image Courtesy: Anna Moneymaker/AFP) 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 ‘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.