Trade: India, US, ‘close’ to seal the deal; ‘Won’t rush into any deal,’ says Goyal
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid reports that India and the US are ‘closer’ to sealing the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday asserted that New Delhi will not rush into trade deals and reject restrictive conditions.
“India will not sign any trade deal in a hurry,” he said while speaking at the Berlin Global Dialogue during an official visit, referring to European concerns over India’s continued purchases of Russian oil, the media reported.
India will not rush into signing any trade agreements and will reject conditions from partner countries that restrict its trading choices, he added.
New Delhi is negotiating a long-pending free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), with differences remaining over market access, environmental standards and rules of origin.
Trade talks with the United States, which in August imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian exports, and several other countries, are also underway.
Goyal said New Delhi would take a measured approach.
The EU, United Kingdom and the United States are pressuring New Delhi to scale back imports of discounted Russian crude, which the Western nations argue help fund Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine—although they are themselves importing from Russia.
India has long defended its energy purchases as essential for ensuring affordable supplies and energy security, but Indian refiners may now sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with new US sanctions clamped this week on two major Russian producers.
Meanwhile, five rounds of negotiations have been completed with the US for the first phase of the BTA, which aims to boost trade ties and address long-pending market access concerns.
India and the US are “very near” to concluding the proposed BTA as both the sides are converging on most of the issues, an official said on Friday.
The two countries are sorting out the language of the agreement.
“We are very near as far as deal is concerned,” the official said, adding that not much differences are there now for resolution.
Talks are progressing on the agreement and no new issues are acting as hurdle in the negotiations. “We are converging on most of the issues,” the official added.
