Piyush Goyal Reaffirms Commitment to US Trade Deal, Says 'India Economically Resilient Amid West Asia Conflict'

New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing West Asia conflict and evolving world order, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday asserted that India remains economically resilient with strong fundamentals.

Goyal mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has guided the country to look for opportunities amid challenges.

"With a war ranging on, people of India understand the situation and are ready to work with the government to find solutions," said Piyush Goyal.

Goyal further added that while some short-term disruptions may occur, India remains well poised to emerge as a reliable global partner. Addressing concerns over fuel availability, Goyal said India remains well placed in terms of crude oil and fuel supplies, adding that the ongoing conflict involving Iran may not last very long.

"The petroleum ministry and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have been very candid and upfront in sharing with people of India that when there's a war, there are going to be problems. On crude oil and fuel, we are very well placed. We have also ramped up kerosene production to provide alternate option for common man," he said.

Responding to a question on whether India would revisit the interim trade deal with the US following the ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump were illegal, Goyal said India remains committed to the free trade agreement.

"We had a very robust and good FTA. A trade agreement is about getting preferential access, the absolute tariffs does not matter. The US agreement gave India the lowest import duty compared to all our peers. Apart from that, we had a number of products where we had zero duty," Goyal said.

He added that the preferential element of the agreement had been lost after the decision of the US Supreme Court. "We are in talks with the United States and we stand by the FTA," he added.

"When we finalise a FTA... we also protect sensitive sectors. With the US, all GM products will not be allowed entry into India -- corn, soybean, rice, wheat, millets. The only access is in areas which do not threaten our farmers," Goyal stated.