EAM S Jaishankar; Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Amid buzz over fast-tracking India-US trade deal after the Trump administration paused tariffs for 90 days, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India would never negotiate in a hurry while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar felt the country should "seize the window".
“We never negotiate at gunpoint," Goyal told reporters. "Favourable time constraints motivate us for quicker talks, but till the time we are not able to secure the interest of our country and our people, we do not hurry."
The minister underlined that India is negotiating trade deals with the US, the UK, European Union and several other countries. “Though timelines are often discussed for FTAs, no agreement should be signed just to meet deadlines. Our national interest remains paramount," Goyal added.
India and the US have set a target to sign a bilateral trade agreement by the end of this year. The announcement about the deal was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump in mid-February.
'Communicating urgency'
Jaishankar said India is keen to seal the bilateral trade deal with the US with a very high degree of urgency.
“Normally, a complaint in the past which was made about us was that we are the guys slowing it down. Today, it is the other way around. We are trying to communicate that urgency,” Jaishankar said at the Global Technology Summit organised jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India.
Referring to the 90-day pause, Jaishankar said, “We want to seize that window.” The minister added that Indian trade negotiators are “really charged up” and are keen to conclude the deal.
The External Affairs Minister claimed that India has had more rounds of discussions with the US in the past six weeks, than with the European Union in the last two years.
The minister also acknowledged the positive response from the US. “So far, the US has been quick to respond to what has been tabled,” he added.
According to officials, India and the US have finalised terms of reference for the first phase of talks on the bilateral trade agreement.