India aims to sign interim trade deal legal pact with US by March-end: Commerce Secy Rajesh Agrawal

New Delhi: India expects to finalise and sign the legal agreement for an interim trade deal with the US by March-end, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said Wednesday.

He said the joint statement issued by India and the US lays down the broad contours of the interim agreement that both sides have reached. This pact and the understanding reflected in the joint statement needs to be converted into a legal document for which the process is on, he said.

"We expect that by the end of March, we should be able to finalise and sign the legal agreement," he said. "However, having said that, I think drafting a legal agreement to the satisfaction of both sides also may take time. But we are hopeful, the teams are working on it, and we should look at March as the timeline in which we should make it operational," Agrawal said at the sidelines of an event in Germany.


He highlighted that India has always negotiated with a "clear mindset" on sectors that are "very" sensitive for the country in trade pacts and has also protected all those key segments in the interim trade deal with the US.

"We have been very clear to our partner countries that India cannot open up or provide access," he said.

Since the US has been a strong market for labour-intensive industries, the interim agreement will give an advantage to India's labour-intensive sectors, allowing their unhindered growth, said the top bureaucrat in the commerce ministry. "What we have been able to achieve in the interim agreement is good for India and our exports," said Agrawal. "I don't see any major red lines in this."

Agrawal will meet World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Geneva this week ahead of the ministerial meeting of the multilateral body next month. He will undertake a stock-taking exercise with his team on WTO issues during his visit.