India, US eye interim accord on trade deal

Indian team in Washington to continue talks

- Mukesh Jagota

A team of Indian officials has already landed in Washington to continue negotiations on the first tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and the talks are expected to continue till Thursday.

While the negotiations will be on the BTA, any progress that can be made before the August 1 deadline for implementation of reciprocal tariffs will be packaged as an interim agreement, officials said.

"We are not differentiating between an interim or the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. Talks will continue on the first tranche BTA after the initial agreement," they said.

The Indian team that has reached the US will start engaging with their US counterparts from Monday. India's chief negotiator for the BTA, special secretary Rajesh Agrawal will join the team in Washington on Wednesday.