Protecting Indian interests to be supreme in India-US BTA talks: Officials
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New Delhi: India will stand firm on its stance in the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations with the US as its interests are supreme, an official said.Indian trade negotiators are set to travel to Washington soon to take the talks forward for an interim trade deal ahead of the July 9 deadline when the 90-day reciprocal-tariff pause period of the US ends.'India's interests remain supreme and will be protected,' said the official while referring to the sensitivity around the talks and New Delhi's insistence that there was no US mediation during the recent India-Pakistan conflict.On being asked if US President Donald Trump's repeated claims on brokering peace in Operation Sindoor and the rejection of these claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would have any impact on the trade talks, the official said: 'India's interest will always be supreme'.Another official said that the talks would bediscuss both the interim and first tranche of the BTA which is aimed to be concluded by September-October.'Our talks are continuing in the virtual format. A team of officials from India will travel to Washington DC for the next round of BTA talks, but a date has not been fixed yet,' the second official said,India wants the entire 26% tariff to be rolled back.There are always certain areas which are difficult in a trade agreement, officials said.Agriculture and dairy sectors are 'difficult and challenging areas for India. And India has not opened up dairy in any of its free trade pacts,' the second official added.Moreover, the US is demanding concessions in sensitive agriculture items, including GM crops, something that India has resisted.'The negotiations are indeed tough. But one hopes that at least some understanding on a part of the deal can be reached before July 9,' the official added.When asked if the July 9 deadline is not extended, the official said the tariffs would come to the April 2 level of 26% in the case of India. If it is not extended, India may gain in something and may lose some compared to other countries, but the US will also get affected because of the high tariffs, they said.
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