India, Feb. 3 -- Today India and the United States officially sealed a major bilateral trade agreement aimed at ending months of tariff tensions and boosting economic ties between the world's two largest democracies.

Under the deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the United States has agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to about 18 percent, down sharply from previous effective rates as high as 50 percent (which included a 25 percent base tariff plus an extra 25 percent levy tied to India's Russian oil imports).

In exchange, India has agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil, boost purchases of U.S. goods including energy, technology, agricultural products, and defence equipment, and signi...