Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal informs, India is no longer signing free trade agreements (FTAs) just to join a group and instead is looking at reciprocal access, good market conditions, and fair play in trade in both goods and services. However, FTA industry should inculcate greater appetite for risk taking as these pacts cannot give one-sided access for Indian goods and services alone.
India has launched negotiations for such pacts with the UAE, Australia and UK and would launch talks with Canada and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). Under such agreements, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate import/ customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services.
All these agreements are going to be two-way traffic. Replying to a question about industry's apprehensions on such trade pacts benefitting India's trading partners, etc, he said textiles industry is facing issues due to zero-duty benefits being enjoyed by Vietnam and Bangladesh in many developed markets.
