Expressing confidence that the India-US trade deal would be sealed soon, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Tuesday said the agreement was in its "final steps", with only the last one per cent of negotiations pending.
Addressing the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit, Gor said he was determined to agree as it would be beneficial to both nations, and it would be sealed after nearly 18 months of talks.
"We are in the final steps on this deal. Most of this deal is complete. There are a few items that remain on both sides. It's in the last 1 per cent of that deal," he said.
The US envoy to India was bullish about the bilateral relationship and cited the personal equation between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was driving the ties.
"People ask, Why is this taking so long? We've been at this for a year and a half. To put it into perspective, the European trade deal took 20 years. So no matter what, as long as we beat the European deal, I think we're in good shape. But I'm determined to bring this to a close," he said.
The US envoy said the President has very fond memories of his visit to India and still continues to talk about it.
"His (Trump's) visit last time was one of the most remarkable visits that he continues to talk about. He holds it in a very fond place. It's an incredible thing. So, I look forward to having the President visit us back in India," Gor said.
The ambassador also announced that the Quad foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in the Philippines in about two weeks from now.
He added that the agreement would provide greater certainty for businesses engaged in bilateral trade.
"It's also a deal that, frankly, for a lot of individuals in this room, brings stability. For those of you that trade bilaterally, it's something that's incredibly useful and helpful," Gor said.
The ambassador said both governments had maintained an intensive pace of negotiations in recent weeks, citing multiple high-level exchanges between trade officials.
"As I mentioned, the trade deal, we're close to getting it done through very active negotiations. I mean, pretty much the last three weeks we've had travels back and forth. Minister Goyal was in New York... followed by Ambassador Greer in Delhi right afterwards," he said.
Gor said bilateral trade had already expanded dramatically over the past two decades and was poised for another leap.
"Over the past two decades, our bilateral trade has increased from USD 20 billion to USD 220 billion. That's an incredible job, and it's also something that we're gonna take to a much higher level," he said.
He pointed to the ambitious target announced by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase bilateral trade to USD 500 billion.
"What President Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced as a bilateral trade goal of USD 500 billion over the next few years, that's an astounding number that is unmatched," Gor said.
"We are ready to do so much with India. India exports more to the United States than anywhere else by far," Gor added.
(With inputs from PTI)
