India-US Trade Policy Forum: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and the US are seeking bilateral resolution of several long-standing World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes between the two countries.
The minister’s remarks came on Wednesday after the conclusion of the 13th India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) with US Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Catherine Tai in Washington.
Addressing a press conference in Washington, Goyal said that there were very important discussions between India and the US officials to find solutions to the many WTO disputes. “These outstanding issues are areas where both countries have had some wins and some losses,” he said.
During her two-day visit to the US, Commerce Minister also held delegation-level talks and one-on-one meetings with USTR Ambassador Tai.
India-US committed to find bilateral solution
Goyal also said that the two countries have directed their officials to engage in “very aggressive” talks over the next two to three months to find bilateral resolutions to WTO issues, which reflects the mutual trust between the two countries. Is.
“We have instructed our officials to engage very aggressively in the next two or three months so that we can find a bilateral solution to the WTO issues showing confidence between the two countries and we expect some satisfactory results,” he said. Let’s hope so.”
According to Goyal, since the India-US restarted the Trade Policy Forum in a new form in November 2021 with renewed vigour, it has seen it become a very robust and result-oriented discussion on a range of issues of mutual interest.
Goyal’s remarks at the Trade Policy Forum
“The Trade Policy Forum is really a forum where we have free and frank discussions on a wide range of issues. Some are predetermined on the table and many emerge from the discussions,” he said.
“The kind of friendly atmosphere in which India and the US can discuss issues of mutual interest and at times issues that cause concern to both countries— discuss very transparently in an open environment and trade policy The beauty of the Forum,” Goyal said.
India requests US to issue business visas faster
Further, the Union Minister said that India has urged the US to expedite the issuance of business visas so that people can make short trips to pursue their commercial and business interests.
“We have received a very good response to our request that the issuance of business visas which has been coming back to India since a long time is an area that needs to be expedited, so that business visas can be issued faster to interested businessmen on both sides. So that trade, investment is not affected,” Goyal remarked.
It is to be noted here that India and the US are natural partners and have trade complementarities, longstanding strategic and economic ties, close people-to-people contact, and are also both vibrant democracies. Both countries are also cooperating under QUAD, I2U2 (India-Israel/UAE-USA) and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework).
In addition, regular exchanges at the leadership level have been an integral part of the expansion of bilateral relations. The outcomes emerging from these visits have been instrumental in further strengthening the multi-faceted relationship between the two countries.
(With inputs from ANI)