The India-US trade deal will be a big growth opportunity for India’s “sensitive sectors” such as agriculture and fisheries, as well as the youth and the poor, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said at a press conference on Tuesday. Without giving details of the deal reached with Washington, Goyal said the trade deal was in its final stages and that a joint India-US statement outlining the contours of the agreement would be released soon.
Goyal further said that the government wanted to make a statement in the House but was interrupted due to “ugly scenes” created by the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress and other opposition parties. The Lok Sabha witnessed repeated disruptions for the second consecutive day after Rahul Gandhi tried to read out excerpts from an unpublished book by former army chief General MM Naravane, including passages related to the 2020 India-China fight in Ladakh.
At least eight Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) were suspended for “unruly” behavior earlier in the day.
He called it a “good deal” and said the deal could only be reached because of the “personal relationship between the Prime Minister and US President Donald Trump.”
Terming the trade deal a “good sign” for India’s bright future, the commerce minister added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had concluded a long-awaited deal with the US and the entire nation congratulated him.
The trade minister’s comments come amid growing pressure from the opposition to seek clarification from the government on the trade deal, raising concerns about the agricultural sector and oil purchases from Russia.
This comes after India and the US reached a trade deal that reduced tariffs on Indian exports to 18 percent.
In a post on social media, Trump said: “India will also ‘proceed to reduce its tariffs and non-tariff barriers to the United States to zero.’
Washington ended months of tariff negotiations on Monday, saying tariffs on Indian goods would be cut to 18 percent from 25 percent under a U.S.-India trade deal, while also saying that Delhi would stop buying Russian oil and increase imports of American goods.
In response, Prime Minister Modi hailed the deal as “wonderful” news of tariff cuts; however, there was no mention of Russian oil or US claims that India would remove its tariffs on US goods.