New Delhi: On Monday (February 2), US President Donald Trump wrote a jubilant post on his Truth Social account, announcing that a trade deal between India and the US has been agreed upon in a phone call between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After his post, Indian government officials including cabinet minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that a deal had been reached.Modi’s statement on X did not even mention the word “deal” – but he thanked the US president for reducing the tariff on Indian goods from 50% to 18%. He provided absolutely no additional details, nor did he mention what India had promised the US in return.Since neither country has issued a formal press communique or detailed statement on the matter, the information the public has been able to glean about this reported deal is based solely on social media posts. Unsurprisingly, that’s left a lot of questions unanswered.Here’s what we know about the deal so far, and what we don’t.1. On Russian oilTrump has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela”. This was one of the very public sticking points between the countries; the US had imposed a 25% “penalty” tariff on Indian goods because of India’s purchase of Russian oil. India had maintained, however, that it bought Russian oil because of market conditions and the interests of Indian consumers. The Ministry of External Affairs had called the US’s penalty “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.Does the deal include provisions that would make the move away from Russian oil less “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” for Indian consumers? Or has India changed its mind on the US’s demand without asking for anything in return?2. On India’s commitment to buy $500 billion in US goodsTrump claimed that “The Prime Minister also committed to “BUY AMERICAN,” at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products.” Again, none of the posts from the Indian side made any mention of this commitment.At present, India imports less than $50 billion a year from the US. As journalist T.C.A. Sharad Raghavan has pointed out, $500 billion would come to around Rs 45.5 lakh crore. That’s only slightly less than the Union government plans to spend in totality, on everything, in the coming financial year; the spend predicted in Union Budget 2026-27 was Rs 53.5 lakh crore.What is the timeline for these $500 billion purchases? Is the US prepared to drop barriers on high-tech exports, especially in space and defence, in exchange for this commitment? What gain does the Indian government see from these purchases, and are they worth the financial commitment being made?3. On 0% tariff on US goods in IndiaTrump’s post said that while the US was reducing “reciprocal” tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18%, India had agreed to “move forward” and reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers on US goods in India to 0%.What is the timeline of this commitment? Does it stand across sectors? And, if India is moving towards 0% tariffs, why is the US still calling its 18% tariff rate “reciprocal”?4. On agricultural exportsUS Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said, “New US-India deal will export more American farm products to India’s massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America.” This had been another big sticking point during the negotiations, and Modi had promised to protect India’s farmers even if it came at a great “personal cost”. Opening up India’s agricultural markets to US farmers and allowing large-scale agricultural exports, as Rollins claims the deal does, would be a difficult pill to swallow for India’s already battered farming sector.What has changed since Modi’s promise? And how will Indian farmers be impacted?5. On the competitiveness of Indian goodsWhile of course it’s a big drop when compared to the 50% tariff currently levied on Indian goods in the US, to what extent will the new 18% rate ensure that Indian goods are competitive in the US market?Several of India’s regional regional rivals had already reached trade deals with the US while India was paying the 50% tariff. Pakistan has a rate of 19%, Bangladesh and Vietnam 20%, and China 34%. While India’s new 18% rate is lower than what the others have got, Suhasini Haidar has pointed out in The Hindu that this doesn’t paint the whole picture. “it must be remembered that all of India’s neighbours and some of its Asian rivals also receive a special GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) concession of about 5%, which the U.S. withdrew from India in June 2019, during Mr. Trump’s first tenure, and hence Indian exporters had hoped for a reciprocal tariff rate of about 15%,” Haidar writes.6. On dataAccess to Indian data has been a big draw for American companies, particularly as tech companies developing AI products need more and more data to train their machines on. That’s the reason why US tech companies too have been talking about moving some investment to India.Does the trade deal make Indian data more easily available for US tech companies? What would that mean for India’s own tech innovations, and also for the privacy of its citizens? None of the stakeholders involved have so far mentioned anything about this.7. On intellectual property rightsTwo free trade agreements India has signed recently – with the EU and UK – mark some dilution in India’s intellectual property regime. Both show a tilt from compulsory licensing towards voluntary licensing. In areas like pharmaceuticals, this could have far-reaching implications. Where does the India-US trade deal stand on intellectual property rights? Again, this has not found a mention in the details made available to the public so far.8. On the Indian government’s silenceThe only details we have about the deal so far have come from Trump’s Truth Social post and posts by others in the US government. Why are Indian officials not making clear statements about the matter, with details that the Indian public needs and deserves to know?Indian and US officials had been in touch over the past year without visible signs of any progress, though Trump himself had frequently alluded to Modi’s commitment to stop buying Russian oil. Yesterday’s announcement came days after the release of the Epstein files, whose contents have proved damaging for Trump and also for Modi, whose government stands accused of using businessman Anil Ambani’s ties with Epstein to get closer to the White House.The deal, coincidentally, also comes days after the SEC finally managed to serve Gautam Adani in its ongoing case against the Indian businessman, though Modi has denied Adani’s plight is a factor in Indo-US relations.