NEW DELHI: Government on Friday said that a team led by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, which met United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and ambassador designate Sergio Gor, held “constructive” talks on several aspects of the proposed trade deal.“Both sides exchanged views on possible contours of the deal and it was decided to continue the engagements with a view to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” an official statement said.Goyal’s visit to Washington came after US President Donald Trump spoke in a conciliatory tone after talks for a trade deal came to a near standstill with a team from USTR also postponing the sixth round of talks in late Aug.India’s oil purchases from Russia are at the centre of the impasse on the trade agreement, for which Trump and PM Narendra Modi had agreed to a Fall deadline, with New Delhi refusing to lower tariffs on farm products being the other contentious area.While govt has maintained that its red lines stay intact, Trump’s pressure on Russian oil is seen to be thorny with Goyal publicly suggesting that India could increase its energy trade with the US in the coming years.
