Confident of 6th round of BTA talks

Top government officials on Monday told a parliamentary panel that India's relations with the US were multifaceted, and not restricted to trade issues.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

They were, however, confident that the sixth round of negotiations on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) would take place as a US trade team is scheduled to visit India on August 25 for talks.

To questions by panel members on India's defence ties, the officials rejected recent reports that have claimed that New Delhi has halted its purchases of defence equipment from the US. They said the government-to-government engagement between the two countries on all other issues remains normal, but conceded to rough spots over trade that need ironing out.