India and the United States will hold trade talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, senior commerce ministry officials said, underlining a reversal in bilateral ties after weeks of criticism from US officials and raising hopes for a breakthrough on a free trade agreement that was jeopardised by the punitive tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump on India for buying Russian oil.

“The chief negotiator of the US [Brendan Lynch] is visiting India tonight,” India’s chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks and special secretary, commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, said on Monday afternoon. The US team will meet the Indian negotiating team on Tuesday, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal confirmed, adding that, overall, the two sides are in a “positive frame of mind” on matters related to trade.

Tuesday’s meeting may pave the way for the sixth round of trade talks that were earlier scheduled for August 25 in New Delhi. Those talks were postponed after Trump on August 7 imposed on India a 25% punitive tariff besides a 25% reciprocal tariff that cumulatively was one of the highest levies on merchandise exports from any US trading partner. The additional levy for purchasing Russian crude oil kicked in on August 27.