New Delhi — India and the United States will hold a fresh round of trade talks in New Delhi on June 23-24 as both sides work to finalize the first phase of a proposed interim trade agreement, a senior Indian government official said Monday.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said officials from the Office of the United States Trade Representative will visit India for high-level discussions with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and other senior officials.
“Our expectation is discussion will be centred around giving final touches to the first tranche of the deal as well as the larger Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) that has been under discussion,” Agrawal said during a monthly trade data briefing.
The talks are expected to focus on completing the interim agreement while also advancing negotiations on a broader bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.
The upcoming visit follows a previous round of discussions held in New Delhi from June 2-4, when U.S. and Indian officials discussed trade in goods, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, economic security alignment and other areas of mutual interest.
India and the United States issued a joint statement in February outlining a framework for an interim agreement based on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. The statement also reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to continue negotiations toward a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement.
Earlier this month, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said the proposed India-U.S. trade agreement was “99 per cent there,” with only a few issues left to resolve. He said officials from both countries remained actively engaged and were committed to reaching an agreement that would benefit both sides.
The June 23-24 talks are expected to give new momentum to the negotiations and could bring India and the United States closer to finalizing the interim trade deal. (Source: IANS)
