Foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Monday told Parliament’s panel on external affairs that India will not pause defence deals with the United States and underlined that both countries have a multi-dimensional relationship of which trade is a small part.
Government officials indicated to the panel that purchase of Russian oil will continue and that President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming India trip or any possible trip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China are not part of any calibration but are pre-planned engagements.
In the first government briefing to a parliamentary panel after the US imposed 50% tariffs on India, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal informed the panel that the sixth round of trade negotiations between India and the US is scheduled and the US has not called off the discussions to be held in New Delhi.
US President Donald Trump last Wednesday signed an executive order doubling India’s tariffs to 50% by announcing an additional 25% duties over Russian oil purchase. The additional 25%, due to take effect on August 27, puts India on a par with Brazil when it comes to facing the highest levy of 50%.
The commerce ministry also told the panel that as part of the export diversification strategy, focused efforts are being made to tap the potential of India’s existing trade agreements with partners such as the UAE, Australia, ASEAN, Japan, South Korea and Mauritius.
“Preparations are underway to leverage opportunities under the new FTA partnerships such as the UK as soon as the agreements come into force. Efforts are likewise being intensified to speedily conclude ongoing negotiations, such as with the EU, on the basis of mutually beneficial and balanced trade principles,” said a functionary who attended the meeting.
Misri replied to a lot of questions from the members who asked him about Pakistan army chief Asim Munir’s statements against India at an event in the US and what prompted Trump to impose extra tariffs on India.
At a black-tie dinner in Washington DC, Munir said the Indus River “is not the Indians’ family property” and claimed Pakistan had “no shortage of resources to undo the Indian designs to stop the river”, according to The Dawn cited by news agency ANI.
On Munir’s statement, the standing committee chairman and Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said it was discussed in the meeting. “Yes, the question of General Munir’s statement on American soil has been brought up. Our concern was expressed about the misuse of a friendly country’s soil to say something about us in this manner. But at the same time, the fact that nuclear sabre-rattling is something the Pakistanis like to do has been dismissed by the MEA in a statement that was issued just about the time that our meeting was beginning.”
Briefing the standing committee discussions, Misri told the lawmakers that the Centre has not received an official denial from the US regarding the next round of trade talks, functionaries said.
He also explained how India’s relationship with the US is “multidimensional” and constitutes a strategic partnership. He pointed out that during the past few months, the US had extradited Tahawwur Rana, one of the closest associates of David Coleman Headley, who was one of the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people.
Misri highlighted how the US also proscribed The Resistance Front, which had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack, as a terror organisation, and that the US backed the UNSC resolution against the Pahalgam terror attack.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Tharoor said the meeting discussed “the importance of the Indo-US relationship, despite this particular problem. The commerce secretary also assured us that the process of dialogue is ongoing. I feel the committee has left feeling fairly satisfied that many of the issues that were on the minds of people are issues that our senior colleagues in government are thinking about and have given us credible responses to.”
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