(PTI)
India would be “happy and willing” to negotiate a trade pact with the US, provided America decides to look for a new free trade partner, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said here. He said the US administration, as a policy, is not looking at a free trade agreement (FTA) with any new partner.
“Should they change their mind, India would be happy and willing to discuss. Without that also, we are engaged in attracting investment, technology, trade between the two countries,” the minister told reporters here. During the Trump administration, India and the US had discussed a mini-trade deal to boost economic ties.
Meanwhile, addressing the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Goyal said talks for a trade deal are progressing with Canada. “Canada (Minister of International Trade Mary Ng) and I are very confident that we would be done with our early progress trade agreement by December,” he said.
On the proposed India-Israel agreement, the minister said: “I still do not think, we have got a good enough deal or a proposition that is attractive because of small population size and their unwillingness to open up on services…”. With the European Union also, Goyal said, negotiations are going on.
