NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday added Russia, Oman and the Southern African Customs Union, which includes South Africa, to the growing list of countries and blocs with which India is negotiating trade agreements.
Talks for free trade agreements have been resumed with the European Union and Australia, while the UK and the UAE are the new entrants on the list.
In all four cases the government is looking at an ear-ly harvest scheme, or a limi-ted agreement over the next few months.
Similarly a pact with SACU was also discussed earlier but the government opted to freeze these dialogues a few years ago only to resume them after it decided to exit negotiations to be part of RCEP, the trading bloc comprising Asean nations, China, Japan and Australia.
“Equitable, fair and balanced and to the benefit of the Indian exporters, you will have to raise whatever are your concerns,” Goyal said, adding that most issues were related to market access rather than tariffs.
