“We Never Negotiate At Gunpoint”: Piyush Goyal, S Jaishankar Double Down On US

New Delhi:

India will never negotiate under duress, nor rush into any agreement on matters that are in the interest of its people, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated following Donald Trump’s decision to “pause” the reciprocal tariffs Washington had imposed on New Delhi for 90 days. The step was viewed as a narrow window for India and the United States to quickly sign a bilateral trade agreement that is under negotiation by both nations.

We will always prioritize India and will make sure that a agreement is concluded with that in mind, the minister stated, and that “time pressures” could be perceived only as an incentive. “We never underwrite at gunpoint. Convenient time pressures encourage us for faster negotiations, but until the time when we are not able to garner the interest of our nation and our citizens, we do not rush (to any agreement),” said Mr Goyal.

Addressing the Italy-India Business, Science, and Technology Forum, Mr Goyal provided a report on India’s trade negotiations with the US, the UK, the European Union, and some other countries across the world. “All our trade negotiations are going along well, in the spirit of India First, and to assure our journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047 during the Amrit Kaal,” he stated without providing details of any agreement.

He however stated that “Trade talks go forward when both sides are responsive to each other’s concerns and needs.”

Meanwhile, at another platform – the Carnegie Global Technology Summit – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too, made a statement on India’s trade negotiations with various countries and groups, including with the United States.

Discussing India’s preparedness under high-pressure talks after Donald Trump’s retaliatory tariffs declaration that transformed the global trade dynamic, Dr Jaishankar stated India is definitely geared towards a high level of urgency in securing a trade agreement with respect to America. He went on to say that Washington has “fundamentally altered its strategy to engage with the world and it has implications across every sphere.”

The US has been very ambitious, said Dr Jaishankar noting that the global landscape is very different now, from what it was a year ago. The foreign minister went on to say that the trade deal with the United States has been very challenging.

“This time, we are definitely set up for a very high level of urgency. I mean, we see a window. We want to see things. So, our trade deals are actually tough,” the minister stated, going on to say that “When I look at the trade deals, I mean it’s not my direct credit, but we have a lot to do with each other. I mean, these are people very much on top of their game, very ambitious about what they want to do.”

He also said that just as the US has an eye on India, India also has an eye on the United States – and that is something they did not receive the last time. “We negotiated for four years in the first Trump administration. They have their perspective on us, and quite frankly, we have our perspective on them. The bottom line is that they didn’t receive that.”

Referring to the European Union trade negotiations, the minister stated, “So, if you look at the EU, people tend to say we’ve been negotiating for 30 years, which isn’t exactly correct because we had large blocks of time and nobody was even speaking to each other. But they have tended to be very long-drawn-out processes.”

Dr Jaishankar pointed out that the choices of China are as equitable as that of the US, when it comes to the international marketplace, and further opined that the US-China dynamic is shaped by trade and technology.