India will have a “strong comparative advantage” in the trade deal being negotiated with the United States, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, adding that no farmers’ interests would be compromised in the agreement.
Goyal said that the people of India would “celebrate” once details of the deal are released. The Union commerce minister stressed that India was “focused on protecting” sensitive sectors and getting a comparative advantage in trade agreements in order to export more. Addressing the 4th 4th ISID-IDRA National Conference on India’s Industrial Transformation, Goyal said, “I have the courage and conviction to announce that the US trade deal, once details are out, the people of India will celebrate that not a single sensitive interest of our farmers or any stakeholder has been compromised. The India-US trade agreement is in its “last mile”, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said last week while speaking about efforts by the two countries to find common ground on the deal they have negotiated for more than a year. However, Jaishankar added that “it’s never done till it’s done”, while adding that the “last mile” often poses challenges.
On the contrary, India will stand at a very strong comparative advantage. Goyal also made a veiled reference to the Opposition’s criticism of the free trade agreement being negotiated with the US, saying the deal was “sometimes politicised by a few elements.
