India is making hectic efforts to conclude a bilateral trade pact with the United States and is aiming to complete the first phase by September or October this year, Department of Commerce Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said here on Thursday.
Agrawal, who is also the chief negotiator for the proposed India-US trade agreement, gave the information while speaking at a function on export logistics.
Before the complete agreement, both countries are set to finalize an interim trade agreement, which will be the foundation for the larger pact.
Citing India's increasing global trade alliances, Agrawal said the nation has already applied more than 14 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 26 nations.
"Now we are integrating with large markets too… we recently signed an agreement with the UK, we are in advanced talks with the European Union, we are attempting to negotiate and close a deal with the USA," he stated.
India is also widening its Latin American trade outreach, with negotiations actively under way with Chile and Peru. Apart from that, there are ongoing talks with countries such as New Zealand.
"We have done (trade pact) with Australia and UAE. We are negotiating with New Zealand… So, the intention is that we are also integrating on a large scale with the large trading partners and large economies," Agrawal further added.
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