India, US complete 5th round of talks for trade pact: MoS Jitin Prasada

Negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US were launched in March 2025, and so far, five rounds of talks have been held, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Similarly, twelve rounds of negotiations have been held so far between India and the European Union (EU) for the proposed free trade agreement.

The last round was held from 7-11 July in Brussels.

"India-US bilateral trade agreement negotiations were launched in March 2025. Five rounds of negotiations have been held, the last being from July 14-18, 2025, at Washington," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Replying to a separate question, the minister informed that intellectual property (IP) filings in the last five years have increased by 44 per cent to 6,89,991 in 2024-25 from 4,77,533 in 2020-21.

The highest growth was observed in Geographical Indications (GI) with a 380 per cent increase, followed by Designs (266 per cent), Patents (180 per cent), Copyright (83 per cent), Trademarks (28 per cent), and Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Designs (SICLD) with a 20 per cent rise.

As many as 697 GI registrations have been issued as of this date in sectors like handicraft, agri, and food.