Trade negotiations between the United States and India have plateaued, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during the Munich Security Conference while addressing concerns related to recent and potential trade deals on Monday.
Sitharaman remarked that trade deals are moving away from the spirit of negotiation and said it is difficult to make room to give or take any more in the context of US-India trade talks.
"The agreement negotiations are still ongoing, although we'd like to believe that both the sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult. But maybe if there are rooms to operate from, both sides would do it," the FM told reporters.
Sitharaman highlighted how India has a trade surplus with the United States, which makes US want to reduce the deficit on their side and make up for how much ever they have lost over the years.
However, she questioned the extent to which countries can go beyond negotiations if they see narrowing of the trade imbalance as the only criteria to strike a deal. She cited the example of the trade deficit that India has with China, which has grown "exponentially" since 2014.
The Finance Minister also talked about the EU-India trade deal and said that both ends have respects sensitivity of the agricultural sector. She added that the pact will benefit labour-intensive sectors and jobs.
Touching upon the nature of the deal she outlined, " I would put the EU-India also in a bilateral mode -because it's one in the name of union, but of course within them they have."
On the subject of more trade pacts in the pipeline, Sitharaman said that India is speaking with Canada on bilateral investment protection; aditionally, "If everything goes well, we should be concluding Bilateral Investment Protection (on bilateral trade deals) with at least three more countries by December. Negotiations are going on with many countries, including Russia," she told reporters.
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