New York, April 29 -- April 29:US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reiterated that India would likely be among the "first" to sign a trade deal with the US following President Donald Trump's demands for realigning economic relations under the threat of tariffs. "Vice President [JD] Vance was in India last week, talked about substantial progress", he said on Monday. "I would guess that India would be one of the first trade deals we would sign", he told CNBC.

Later, he told reporters that the first agreement could come as early as last week. Reframing trade relations was one of the pillars of Trump's election campaign. With negotiations proceeding slowly overall as he enters his 100th day in office, a deal with India, the world's fift...