FTA Talks Time-Consuming, Must Speed Up With Core Issues Approach: Commerce Secretary

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal on Wednesday said that free trade agreement negotiations need to be sped up with core trade issues being tackled first, so talks with countries are not "time-consuming" to a point where businesses lose interest.

Speaking at the CII India-Latin America and Caribbean Conclave, Barthwal said they are reviewing how to make negotiations conclude faster.

"There's a need to first look at core trade issues such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers and regulations. An early tranche or a first phase of a comprehensive agreement needs to be the first outcome from negotiations," he said, adding that businesses will be able to see outcomes faster, if this approach is adopted.

India is already in talks with Peru for an FTA, and it will approach others in the region for more deals, he said. "I invite the LAC region to look at core trade issues first. There are huge complimentarities between Latin America, Caribbean countries and India. We aspire to double LAC-India bilateral trade from $50 billion to $100 billion. There are issues related to protectionism, regulations, but trade will grow," he said.

LAC-India trade can be boosted by collaborating in sectors like the automobile value chain, pharmaceuticals, IT, electronics, agriculture and infrastructure development, he added.

India now has 14 trade agreements in place with 25 countries, including ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea. And it's negotiating deals with over 50 more, including major economies such as the UK, EU, USA, Switzerland, and Norway.

With the US, Barthwal's approach of a first phase or tranche to an FTA might come to fruition. Minister Goyal has previously stated that the first part of a comprehensive FTA with the US will be completed by September this year.