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A United States trade team is expected to visit India next week to take forward ongoing negotiations between the two countries, with both sides maintaining positive and constructive engagement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday. 

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the US had earlier held discussions in April when an Indian trade team visited the United States, adding that the next round of talks will continue during the upcoming visit.

“We had a trade team that visited the United States in the month of April, if I am not mistaken. We are now expecting a team from the United States to visit India next week, where the negotiations will be taken forward,” Jaiswal said.

He added that so far the engagement between the two sides has been “positive and constructive" and said more details would be shared later.

The MEA, however, did not provide further details on the agenda of the upcoming discussions but indicated that trade negotiations between the two sides are progressing in a constructive manner.

Responding to a query on a viral video allegedly showing racism against Indians in the United States, Jaiswal said he had not seen the specific post but reiterated India’s position on such issues.

“I have not seen the post. However, racism of any kind, anywhere, is unacceptable,” he said.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, speaking at an event in New Delhi, said no partnership is better placed than India and the US to leverage new opportunities, including in the technology domain, adding that the India-US relationship is a defining partnership of the 21st century.

Earlier in May, the government had said that the US trade team, led by the chief negotiator, will visit India from June 1–4 to finalise details of an interim agreement and take forward negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement covering areas such as market access, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion and economic security alignment.