Washington, June 30: Senior US and Indian officials projected growing confidence in the India-US strategic partnership, saying a long-awaited bilateral trade agreement is nearing completion as the two countries deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, defence manufacturing and resilient supply chains.

The broad consensus emerged at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit, where officials from both governments, lawmakers and business leaders described the relationship as entering a new phase driven by technology, investment and shared strategic interests.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement had entered their final stage.

“Most of this deal is complete,” Gor said. “There’s a few items that remain from both sides, but it’s in the last one or 2 per cent of that deal.” He said both governments were working to conclude the agreement after nearly 18 months of negotiations and described it as a “win-win situation” for both countries.

Gor also dismissed suggestions that bilateral ties had weakened, saying cooperation across trade, defence and people-to-people exchanges remained strong. He announced plans for a meeting of Quad foreign ministers in the Philippines in the coming weeks and said the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi had helped attract $20.5 billion in new investment into the United States this year.

India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra said India’s economic transformation had positioned it as “an indispensable anchor” of global growth, stability and trusted partnerships. He said sustained reforms, manufacturing expansion and investments in advanced technologies had placed India on course to become a $7 trillion economy by the end of the decade.

Kwatra identified biotechnology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum technologies as the next frontiers of India-U.S. cooperation, while saying the two countries’ goal of expanding bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 would depend on closer integration of supply chains, investment, manufacturing and skilled talent.

Technology competition with China featured prominently throughout the summit.

Jacob Helberg, the US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, described India as “the only country on earth that fundamentally rivals China” in engineering talent and called it America’s most important long-term partner in building trusted technology ecosystems.

Helberg said Washington wanted to diversify critical technology supply chains beyond China while working with India to develop a shared artificial intelligence developer ecosystem.

In his opening remarks, USISPF President Mukesh Aghi said American companies were quietly reducing dependence on China while expanding manufacturing and research operations in India.

The summit also underscored bipartisan support in Washington for closer ties with New Delhi.

Republican Sen. Steve Daines said India and the United States together represented the only combination capable of matching China’s scale in innovation.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner called India one of America’s “top two or three” strategic partners over the long term. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna argued that the relationship should ultimately be anchored in shared democratic values as well as expanding defence and economic cooperation.

Former US Ambassador Kenneth Juster placed the current relationship in historical context, describing people-to-people ties as the “secret sauce” that had sustained bilateral relations for decades. He also launched USISPF’s commemorative coffee table book, We the People: 250 Voices that Have Shaped the US-India Relationship.

The discussions reflected a shared assessment that India-US ties have moved well beyond their traditional focus on diplomacy and defence. Officials and business leaders repeatedly pointed to technology, supply chain resilience, manufacturing, energy security and investment as the defining priorities of the relationship’s next phase.

Baghdad, June 29: Iraqi President Nizar Amedi and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi held separate meetings here with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi to discuss the recent Iran-US memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending their war.

Amedi stressed the importance of dialogue in fostering a more stable regional environment and paving the way for lasting understandings that address outstanding issues, according to a statement by the Iraqi presidency.

Al-Zaidi affirmed that Iraq supports prioritising an end to wars and adopting dialogue and negotiations as the path toward strengthening stability in the region, noting that this would create greater opportunities for development and prosperity for the peoples of the region, said a statement by his media office.

For his part, Araghchi expressed Tehran’s appreciation for Iraq’s role in containing crises and bridging differences. He reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to building strong relations with its Arab neighbors and maintaining close coordination with Iraq to expand bilateral cooperation, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meetings came amid military exchanges between Washington and Tehran. The United States conducted strikes on Iranian targets on Friday and Saturday, citing “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by striking US military positions in the region.

Meanwhile, the United States and Iran have agreed to pause mutual attacks “for now” and hold talks on Tuesday in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to work out their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, US media outlet Axios reported.

The two sides will stand down “for now” and “vessels can move freely” as technical talks are set to continue, a US official was quoted as saying.

The Tuesday talks were originally set to be held in Switzerland and focused on Iran’s nuclear program. However, renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz prompted the talks to be moved to Doha, shifting the focus to shipping security in the strategic waterway.

Washington, June 29: The United States and Iran have agreed to pause mutual attacks “for now” and hold talks on Tuesday in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to work out their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, US media outlet Axios reported.

The two sides will stand down “for now” and “vessels can move freely” as technical talks are set to continue, a US official was quoted as saying.

The Tuesday talks were originally set to be held in Switzerland and focused on Iran’s nuclear program. However, renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz prompted the talks to be moved to Doha, shifting the focus to shipping security in the strategic waterway, Xinhua news agency reported.

During negotiations in Switzerland a week ago, the US delegation agreed with Iran to establish a “hotline” between the US military and Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps to coordinate traffic in the strait.

However, as of Saturday, the “hotline” still wasn’t operational, according to the report.

The United States conducted strikes on Iranian targets on Friday and Saturday, citing “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by striking US military positions in the region.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had launched fresh air strikes on Iranian military targets after accusing Tehran of again violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking a commercial oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, warning that the Islamic Republic “will no longer exist” if the attacks continue.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes were carried out at the President’s direction after Iran allegedly launched a one-way attack drone that hit the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku at 4:30 a.m. ET.

The tanker was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said US aircraft had struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar sites.

“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!”

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” the President wrote.

CENTCOM said Iran had been given an opportunity to comply with the ceasefire after Friday’s US strikes in response to the attack on M/V Ever Lovely.