India-US trade talks to get renewed political push

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY minister Piyush Goyal will kick off his US visit with a series of meetings with senior American political leaders involved in trade-related matters.

- MUKESH JAGOTA

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY minister Piyush Goyal will kick off his US visit with a series of meetings with senior American political leaders involved in trade-related matters. Detailed negotiations for the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) are expected to begin in the coming days.

The development assumes significance in the wake of the US President Donald Trump's statement in Doha on Thursday that India is "willing to literally charge us no tariffs" on US goods under the BTA. External affairs minister S Jaishankar later said the talks are only going on, adding that complicated and intricate negotiations are involved.

"Nothing is decided till everything is," he said, adding that India was looking for a trade deal that is "mutually beneficial" to both countries. "(The trade deal) has to work for both countries. That would be our expectation. Until that is done, any judgment on it would be premature," he asserted.