Union Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that India will not sign any trade deal in a hurry, referring to the ongoing talks on the India-US trade agreement, and also made it clear that India will not choose its trade partners based on the wishes of another country.
Goyal stated this in Berlin, Germany, adding that India wants to see the trade deals as signs of a long-term partnership that is based on mutual trust.
“We are in active dialogue with the EU. We are talking with the US, but we don’t do deals in a hurry and we don’t do deals with deadlines or with a gun to our heads,” he said at the Berlin Dialogue in Germany.
India is also negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union, where overseas market access, environmental standards and rules of origin are being discussed.
The European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States are trying to get India to curb its purchases of Russian oil, saying its continued purchases by India help finance Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
India says its energy purchases are critical to ensure energy security as well as affordable supply for Indian consumers.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more updates.
