Goyal Signals India's Openness to Free Trade Talks With China

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said India remains open to pursuing free and fair trade with China, expressing hope of expanding exports of goods and services to China and the broader Asean region in coming years.

Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Goyal said India believes in open trade globally and is seeking reciprocal market access in various countries for Indian goods and services. When asked whether India might consider a trade exercise with China similar to its recently concluded agreement with the European Union, he said it was possible at some stage.

Goyal noted he had met his Chinese counterpart earlier this year in Cameroon and again in New Delhi during a visit tied to the Brics summit in September. He said India welcomes suppliers from around the world to meet its growing needs and would rely on established judicial processes if pricing issues arose with goods supplied by China, which provides India with several critical intermediate goods and raw materials.

On China's recent export controls on tunnelling equipment, which could affect infrastructure projects, Goyal said he became aware of the move after leaving India and that the government would address the matter.

According to commerce department data, China became India's largest trading partner in the first half of the current fiscal year, with bilateral trade rising 10.5% to $91.8 billion, even as the trade deficit widened.

Goyal also pointed to progress on other trade fronts, noting recently implemented deals with the UK and New Zealand, an EU agreement expected to open access to 27 European countries, near-conclusion talks with Chile, advancing negotiations with Canada, Mexico's interest in an early-harvest arrangement, and newly begun talks with the South African Customs Union. He said India is working to secure preferential access to economies representing 76% of the estimated $115 trillion global GDP.