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India is negotiating trade deals with countries on its own terms: Goyal
'India is negotiating with different countries—EU (European Union), New Zealand, US (United States), Oman, Chile, and Peru. An FTA is possible only when both countries benefit; it should be a win-win agreement, and when India's interests are protected, national interest will always be supreme. If we get a good deal, and our interests are protected, India is ready to do deals with developed nations,' Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
On 2 April, the Trump administration had announced reciprocal tariffs, including a 26 per cent levy on Indian goods. It subsequently paused the implementation for 90 days to allow time for negotiations, while retaining a universal 10 per cent tariff on all countries. Thereafter, India and the US decided to finalise an interim deal, or the first part of a broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA), before 9 July, the 90-day pause deadline. If a deal between both countries doesn't materialise, India will face a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff from the US after 9 July.
Intense negotiations have been going on between both sides over the past week. A trade delegation from New Delhi, led by chief negotiator and Commerce Department Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, has been in Washington, DC since 27 June, in an attempt to finalise an interim deal before 9 July. The team extended its stay until Thursday to sort out the key points of contention.
During the talks, the Indian side hardened its stance on issues related to the 'sensitive' agriculture sectors, as negotiations for a trade deal with the US continued. Additionally, New Delhi has repeatedly stated that agriculture and dairy remain major 'red lines' in its negotiations with the US.
'Negotiations are not contingent on any date…our interest is— we should get sustained preference over other competing countries in areas of our interest. If we get that, we will be happy to do a deal,' a government source said.
India's key areas of interest include lower tariffs for labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, and automobile components. As part of the deal, India has been pushing hard for the removal of reciprocal tariffs. The source also indicated that Washington is unlikely to offer any relief on the additional tariffs on steel.
Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated, "There will have to be a give and take. Just like the US or people in the US may have views about India, people in India have views about the US too. We'll have to find a kind of meeting ground. I believe it's possible."
On the other hand, the US administration has been saying that a trade deal with India will be finalised soon. On 26 June, US President Donald Trump indicated that a "very big" trade agreement with India may be signed soon.
'We just signed (a trade deal) with China. We are not going to make deals with everybody… But we're having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India, a very big one, where we're going to open up India,' he said.
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Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Tavleen Singh writes: Bihar electoral rolls revision — another idiotic exercise
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When I saw the excellent report in this newspaper last week on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, I remembered that 'Musahar' quarter. It surprised me not at all that the reporters who wandered about Bihar to gauge the reaction of ordinary voters to the Election Commission's new demand for proof of identity found that they were puzzled and confused. They would have already found it hard enough to go through the process of getting the Aadhaar cards they all seemed to have. Speaking of Aadhaar cards, were we not told then that this card would supersede all our other cards and be final proof of identity? There are more questions that need to be asked of the officials who thought up this new exercise and proved yet again that Indian officialdom remains worryingly oblivious to Indian realities. Did those in the Election Commission, who designed this 'Special intensive Revision' remember that an estimated 94 lakh Bihari families live on less than Rs 6,000 a month? Did they remember that more than half the population of this state is believed to live in poverty when it is measured on a multi-dimensional index? The multi-dimensions involve measuring things like nutrition, access to clean water, schools, healthcare and other things. Did they remember that the per capita income of a Bihari is Rs 54,111, when the national average is Rs 1,85,000? The answer is that they probably did not and, in any case, they couldn't care less. They follow orders from their political masters who should know better since they are supposed to represent the people. But Lutyens' Delhi is a long, long way from Indian realities and the politicians who now inhabit its fine bungalows have lived there for more than a decade now. The next time you hear someone from the Bharatiya Janata Party, or one of their daft devotees, sneer at 'Lootyens', it is worth reminding them that the English-speaking elite they so despise does not live there anymore. They have taken their drawing rooms and refinements with them, and fled. This has totally changed the character of this tiny, privileged enclave, in which I spent my childhood and growing years. But that is a subject for another day. This week, I would like to stick to the idiocy of schemes that are devised in the highest echelons of India's government. An Opposition leader in Bihar has referred to this latest scheme as 'votebandi' and compared it to 'notebandi'. It is a valid comparison. That other exercise was supposed to cleanse India of 'black money' and forever end the ways in which 'black' money was used to fund terrorism, corrupt politicians and other such things. 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We need to ask why our political leaders and high officials are so removed from the realities of India that they have not noticed that the people of Bihar are nearly all too poor to get more documents to prove their identity. The question we should also be asking is what this 'special' inspection of election rolls seeks to achieve. If it is to weed out Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh who might be trying to vote for 'secular' parties, then it is a wasted exercise. Bihar is such a poor state that its own citizens are forced to travel to Delhi and Mumbai in search of employment of the most menial kind.
The Hindu
38 minutes ago
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The Hindu Morning Digest: July 6, 2025
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Business Standard
42 minutes ago
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PM Modi arrives in Brazil on four-day visit to attend Brics Summit
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