New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said that the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement is a “big step with great possibilities”, as it could provide a significant boost to the country’s economy by expanding market access in one of the world’s largest and most lucrative markets.
Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave here with the theme: “India and the World: Adaptive by Design”, Jaishankar said that Washington cannot be blamed for all the problems in the global trade system, as several market distortions have emerged from sources other than the US and need to be assessed objectively.
The minister said that the US is India’s major economic, trade, and defence partner and that recently concluded trade pacts with the European Union, the UK, and the European Free Trade Association would help bring greater balance to India’s trade relationships.
Jaishankar further stated that India’s earlier free trade agreements had largely focused on ASEAN countries, Japan, and South Korea, making it important for New Delhi to diversify towards economies with more transparent and mature markets and greater purchasing power.
He also observed that India has strengthened or improved ties with China, Russia, and the Gulf as part of a “multi-alignment” approach that seeks to advance multiple relationships based on the opportunities and challenges involved.
The minister said that every relationship is net-net a plus for India and progress with one partner can make it easier for the country to advance its interests on other fronts.
The External Affairs Minister further stated that India regards attacks on civilian shipping as “completely unacceptable”, whether in the Black Sea, the Red Sea or the Gulf, and that dialogue and diplomacy remain the way forward to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
India is in talks with both Russia and Ukraine to secure safe passage for grain and fuel shipments from the Black Sea, after attacks on civilian shipping in July in which some Indian sailors were killed, he added.
(IANS)
