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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with several countries are ‘well on track’ and India is also looking at some multilateral pacts that are fair and equitable for all the member countries. India has recently implemented a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE in May 2022 and on December 29, 2022 with Australia to boost bilateral trade and investments. The country is negotiating FTAs with countries including Canada, European Union and the UK.

The minister said in a trade agreement, two or more countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms to promote trade in services and investments. He said that it is in India's interest to enter into bilateral free trade agreements. He said ‘It's essential that agreements are balanced and they are in the best interest of both the countries, they address the sensitivities of both the countries and help us protect certain sectors which we need to protect.’

Talking about Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which India decided not to join, Goyal said it was a very unfair and unbalanced agreement and one of the member countries (China) in the RCEP group has a 'very opaque' trading system. Further, he said that going forward it is important to focus on quality products and services.