India and US trade talks progressing; hope to work towards equitable pact in future: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said talks between India and the US for the proposed trade agreement are progressing, and expressed hope that both sides would work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future.

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An Indian official team, headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, was in Washington last week to hold trade talks with their US counterparts. The three-day talks ended on October 17.

“We are in dialogue with the USA, our teams are engaged. We recently had the Commerce Secretary visit the US, and he met with his counterparts. We continue to engage with them and talks are progressing.

“We hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement in the near future,’ Goyal told Doordarshan in Berlin.

In February this year, leaders of India and the US directed officials to negotiate a proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).