New Delhi: India and the US have agreed to intensify efforts for early conclusion of a "mutually beneficial" trade deal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, amid attempts to repair the bilateral ties that witnessed sharp downturn after Washington slapped punitive tariffs on Indian goods.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the discussions between Indian and the American officials this week on the proposed trade deal have been "positive and forward looking".The negotiations were held between Assistant US trade representative Brenden Lynch and India's chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Lynch had meetings with senior officials in the commerce ministry to take forward the ongoing negotiations for a trade deal, Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing."These discussions have been positive and forward looking covering various aspects of the trade deal, and it was also decided between the two sides to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement," he said.
The resumption of talks for the trade deal signalled an intent by the two sides to find common ground and narrow their differences on a range of issues amid efforts to check the downturn in the ties.Following the talks, the US embassy in New Delhi too said Lynch had a "positive meeting" with his counterpart to discuss the next steps in bilateral trade negotiations.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington were reeling under severe stress after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".
The decision to hold the trade talks came against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi warmly responding to US President Donald Trump's remarks last week on efforts to address "trade barriers" between the two sides.
So far, India and the US have held five rounds of talks on the proposed trade.On the day of the Lynch-Agrawal talks, Trump called up Modi and greeted him ahead of his 75th birthday, sparking hopes of a reset in the bilateral ties.In a social media post, Modi said, like Trump, he is also "fully" committed to taking the India-US comprehensive and global partnership to "new heights".In the last few months, India and the US held several rounds of negotiations for a bilateral trade deal but it could not be sealed in view of sharp divergences in certain critical areas including agriculture and dairy.
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