A trade agreement between India and the US, if concluded, could contribute to improving bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, while acknowledging that negotiations had taken longer than initially expected due to their complexity.
Addressing members of the Indian-American and diaspora community and policy experts at an Asia Society event in New York on Monday, Jaishankar said the trade talks had been affected by the “much more complex” ground reality of the negotiations.
“Today, we have reached a situation where there is more or less an understanding on the trade agreement,” he said during a conversation moderated by former US diplomat Daniel Russel.
Jaishankar said India's economic structure, marked by a large number of small producers, agricultural producers and factories, was significantly different from that of the US.
“A trade negotiation required a certain amount of patience and detailing to see it through,” he said, adding that expectations of rapid progress had been “tested” by the complexity involved.
India and the US had in February announced the finalisation of a framework for the first phase of their bilateral trade agreement. However, subsequent changes in the US tariff regime have led to further negotiations.
Referring to the ongoing Section 301 process in the US, Jaishankar said the key question was when to conclude an agreement that was already “very, very far advanced”.
“The 301 process is still in the works, it's still unfolding. So the issue for us is at what point do you close out an agreement which is very, very far advanced,” he said.
Jaishankar said the prolonged negotiations had created “bumps” in bilateral ties, adding that concluding the agreement could help put the relationship on a better footing.
“The period that it took to reach it, that did create bumps last year for the relationship. So presumably, if that agreement is closed out, that would be one point which would contribute to a better relationship,” he said.
He also said developments within the US had influenced bilateral ties, particularly on the issue of mobility.
“For many years mobility was seen as an economic gain. Now, today the economics of mobility and the politics of mobility are at odds with each other,” Jaishankar said.
He noted that diplomacy was increasingly shaped by public opinion in the social media era, particularly in democratic societies.
“We would certainly hope for and expect the relationship to move on an upward trajectory. But I have to be real about the issues that we confront,” he said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had last week said the India-US trade pact was “done and dusted” and would be executed once Washington provided India with the right competitive advantage over rival exporters in the US market.
Goyal is scheduled to visit the US from September 29 to October 5 to attend a G20 meeting in Milwaukee and hold talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on advancing talks for the bilateral trade agreement.
(With inputs from PTI)
