India, US talks for proposed trade pact going on at very fast pace: Piyush Goyal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the negotiations between India and the US for a proposed trade agreement are going at a fast pace. The Indian team has reached Washington for the next round of talks on the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement. Goyal said ‘Negotiations are going on at a very fast pace and in the spirit of mutual cooperation so that we can come out with a win-win trade complementing agreement with the United States.’
Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that negotiations for proposed trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the US are going on. He said that the free trade agreements (FTAs) that India is doing are one of the key enablers to promote global capability centres (GCCs) in the country. He said ‘So if you look at the free trade agreements today, which we are doing with the UK, which we have just announced, with European Union (EU), which is going on, with the US again discussions are on with several other countries in the world.’
India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They are targeting to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year. Similarly, India and the EU are also negotiating an FTA. In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications (GIs) after a gap of over eight years.
