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The U.S. and India have finalized a “historic” deal for the United States to supply “nearly 10% of New Delhi’s liquefied petroleum gas imports” (CNBC).

What’s going on: “Indian state-owned oil companies have signed a 1-year deal to import around 2.2 million tonnes per annum of LPG, from the U.S. Gulf Coast,” Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri wrote in an X post on Monday, calling the agreement “a historic first.” 

• The agreement would be “the first structured contract of U.S. LPG for the Indian market,” Puri added.

What it means: India gets most of its LPG from the Middle East, so the move would diversify its energy sourcing and reduce its trade surplus with the U.S., currently estimated to be about $40 billion, according to an equity analyst quoted by the news outlet.

The start of a thaw? “Since August, ties between the U.S. and India have been strained after Washington imposed a tariff of 50% on Indian goods. Reciprocal tariffs of 25% were imposed on Indian goods as part of a broad strategy to address trade imbalances and boost domestic industries, while the other 25% was due to India’s import of Russian oil.”

• President Trump recently said India has “largely stopped” purchasing Russian oil, but India has not confirmed it.