India and the US are “very shut” to finalising the primary section of their bold Bilateral Commerce Settlement (BTA), a senior authorities official confirmed on Friday.
Based on the official, either side have reached broad consensus on most key points, and negotiators at the moment are engaged on finalising the exact language of the settlement. “There aren’t many variations left to resolve. Discussions are progressing easily, and no new points have emerged as obstacles,” the official added, expressing optimism about assembly the meant timeline.
Negotiators from each nations held a digital spherical of talks on Thursday. To date, 5 rounds of negotiations have taken place since March for the primary section of the commerce deal, which was initially focused for signing by the autumn of 2025.
The BTA, formally proposed in February underneath the path of each nations’ management, goals to greater than double bilateral commerce volumes—from the present USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.
Final month, Commerce and Business Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US to guide high-level discussions on the commerce pact. He was joined by a delegation that included India’s Chief Negotiator and Particular Secretary Rajesh Agrawal.
In mid-September, a US delegation led by Assistant US Commerce Consultant for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch held what have been described as “constructive and forward-looking” discussions with officers from India’s Division of Commerce. Either side agreed to speed up efforts for an early and mutually helpful conclusion to the settlement.
Over latest months, India and the US have been negotiating an interim commerce deal, throughout which the Indian aspect raised issues over Washington’s push to additional open India’s agricultural and dairy sectors. These sectors are thought-about essential for India, as they supply livelihoods to hundreds of thousands.
Beforehand, US President Donald Trump had imposed a 25% tariff on Indian items, which got here into impact on August 1, regardless of expectations {that a} commerce deal might assist stop such measures. Later, citing India’s continued imports of Russian oil, Trump introduced a further 25% tariff, taking the full to 50%, efficient from August 27.
The US President had earlier imposed related reciprocal tariffs on a number of international locations with which Washington has commerce deficits.
(With ANI Inputs)