US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, 17 June, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, France, with progress on a proposed India-US trade agreement expected to dominate the agenda, a senior White House administration official confirmed on Saturday, 13 June. The meeting will mark the first face-to-face bilateral engagement between the two leaders since Operation Sindoor last year, which reshaped regional security calculations across South Asia.

What the Meeting Will Cover

The proposed trade deal is set to feature prominently in the discussions, though officials are not anticipating a final agreement to be signed at the summit. A senior administration official said during a White House briefing ahead of Trump's France trip: 'I think that the potential trade deal will come up.' The official added that the two countries had already signed 'a joint framework agreement earlier this year' and have since been engaged in what was described as 'quite intensive negotiations' over the past year.

The meeting is expected to give both leaders an opportunity to assess where talks stand and signal how aggressively they want to push toward a conclusion. 'I think that the leaders will have a good opportunity to touch base and take stock of where we are and how forward leaning they want to be in closing a deal in coming weeks,' the official said.

Greer's India Visit Follows Summit

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is scheduled to travel to India during the week of 22 June for follow-up discussions aimed at narrowing remaining differences on the proposed agreement. A US delegation had already visited India several weeks prior, and negotiations are described as active at multiple levels. The Greer visit is intended to build on recent momentum and determine whether outstanding gaps can be bridged in the weeks ahead.

Washington's View on the Partnership

Administration officials framed the trade negotiations within a broader vision of the US-India relationship, describing the two countries as 'natural economic partners' with significant untapped potential. The official specifically cited energy, industrial products, and certain agricultural products as sectors where Washington sees expanded commercial opportunity. 'We think that the US and India are natural economic partners and can add a lot to each other,' the official said.

Officials also linked the trade push to Prime Minister Modi's own strategic ambitions. 'We know that Prime Minister Modi is quite ambitious about the role he sees for India, the importance of the US-India relationship. We think a potential trade deal is part of that,' the official noted. Despite the optimism, the administration was candid that substantial technical work remains. 'President Trump's approach always is we won't have a deal unless it's a very good deal. We think a very good deal is possible. I don't think we'll close that deal at the G7,' the official said.

Trump's Broader G7 Agenda

Beyond the Modi meeting, President Trump is scheduled to engage with several world leaders at Evian, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the leaders of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Summit sessions will focus on economic growth, international investment partnerships, supply chain resilience, critical mineral supply chains, energy security, and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.

With Greer's India visit set for the week after the summit and technical discussions still ongoing, the trajectory of the India-US trade deal will likely become clearer by the end of June 2025.