US trade talks in advance stage
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New Delhi: India is at an advanced stage of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement with the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
US Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer was recently here with his team to take stock of these talks.
The two-day talks concluded on December 11.
“We are already at an advanced stage in our discussions with the US,” Goyal said here while talking to the media about the conclusion of negotiations for the India-New Zealand free trade agreement.
He also said that India has so far finalised FTAs with three members of the Five Eyes (FVEY) alliance - Australia, UK and New Zealand.
The five countries of the intelligence sharing network are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.
India is also in the process of resuming talks for a trade agreement with Canada.
“We are soon going to launch discussions for the ToR (terms of reference) with Canada also,” Goyal said adding “this reflects the growing strategic importance of India in world geopolitics”. The India-US trade pact talks are crucial as both the countries are working to finalise the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
