Panagariya pitches for trade pact in services with US

Former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said Friday India could explore the possibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US in the services sector.

India currently has FTAs with over dozen countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and ASEAN nations.

"Down the road, the US being such an important strategic partner. One area where we can explore an FTA agreement is services. I think goods is problem with the US because the US will insist on agriculture liberalisation," Panagariya said at an event organised by industry body CII.

He said it may be difficult to have an FTA with the US in goods but both the countries can look forward to a free trade pact in services sector because both the countries have some common interest.

On an FTA in goods with the US, Panagariya said, "You need to deal with agriculture because the US would never do goods agreement only in industry."
"So FTA with USA in goods at least in the near future does not look to me like something that can happen."