Signals of Modi, Trump thaw may help restart trade talks

India is in 'active dialogue' with US for free trade deal, says commerce minister Piyush Goyal

- Dhirendra Kumar

Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said India is in 'active dialogue' with the US for a free trade agreement, while US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence in talks concluding early, indicating negotiations on the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are set to gain fresh momentum.

The commerce minister said that negotiations are going on with the European Union as well in the national capital for concluding a trade agreement. Besides, he added, India is also in talks with New Zealand for a trade pact.

"We are in active dialogue with US and New Zealand for a trade agreement," Goyal said at an event of industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci).

The growing warmth between Trump and Modi was reflected in a post on Trump's social media platform Truth Social, where he said he was pleased that the two nations were continuing talks to address trade barriers and looked forward to speaking with his "very good friend" Modi in the coming weeks.