FM Optimistic of Early Conclusion of India-US Trade Agreement
"I think recently the Indian commerce minister has also spoken that they expect and wish to have the agreement signed soon. Negotiations have been going on. I hope, in the interest of global trade and in the interest of trade between the two partners, India and the US, the trade agreement gets concluded at the earliest," she said while interacting with the Atlantic Council on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings at Bangkok, Thailand
New Delhi: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that she is hopeful that the India-US trade agreement would be concluded at the earliest, in the interest of global trade and bilateral economic ties between the two countries. The finance minister's comments came a day after commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal asserted that the first phase of the India-US trade pact has been finalised and is undergoing legal drafting.
"I think recently the Indian commerce minister has also spoken that they expect and wish to have the agreement signed soon. Negotiations have been going on. I hope, in the interest of global trade and in the interest of trade between the two partners, India and the US, the trade agreement gets concluded at the earliest," she said while interacting with the Atlantic Council on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings at Bangkok, Thailand.
Besides, she also raised concerns over trade scenarios with China despite India's the past engagements. "The growing trade imbalance and persistent restrictions on market access for Indian products remained major concerns, despite years of engagement with Beijing," the finance minister said.
Stressing the need for reforms across all levels of government, Sitharaman on also underscored the need for deeper reforms at the grassroots level to accelerate India's journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047. “The more we reform our systemic issues and move forward, the greater the ease in moving towards Viksit Bharat," she said.
She emphasised on India's move on strategic reforms to attract global investors into the country. "The global investors were recognising the opportunities in India as a result of ongoing reforms with a recent disinvestment in IDBI Bank in which international investors had acquired close to 60 per cent of the shares,” the finance minister said.
She further said also that the government was pursuing reforms to open up markets, listed companies and government-owned enterprises to fresh capital, which could support their expansion and growth across sectors. “However, reforms should not remain confined to the central government, and state governments and local bodies are also required to undertake measures to improve governance and facilitate economic development,” she added.