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India is engaged with the United States and the European Union to conclude trade agreements and discussions have been held on outstanding issues, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
Answering queries during the weekly media briefing on India-US bilateral trade agreement talks, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said both governments continue to remain engaged with a view to concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement. He said the US Deputy Trade Representative was recently in India. A US delegation led by Rick Switzer visited India from December 9 to 11. This was Ambassador Switzer's first visit to India in his new role. During the visit, Switzer met with Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, and other senior Indian officials. Responding to a query about talks on the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, Jaiswal said they are progressing. "The 14th round of FTA were held in Brussels in October. The team then visited India and thereafter the US trade commissioner was also here in December. He had to discuss other outstanding issues. Both sides remain engaged and we will see how we can take this conversation forward," he said. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had said earlier that India and the EU are narrowing down the differences, and there will be more physical and virtual meetings. "We have done nearly 14 rounds of negotiations; their team was here, and both sides had deep engagement on multiple issues. We are narrowing down the differences," he had said. India recently concluded an FTA with New Zealand. It was one of India's fastest-concluded FTAs. This FTA enhances market access and tariff preferences for Indian exports to New Zealand, while serving as a gateway to the wider Oceania and Pacific Island markets. (ANI)
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