India and the United States plan to sign a trade agreement in the near future, similar to Washington's agreements in this area with other countries, Reuters reported, citing a source in the Indian Commerce Ministry. The signing is scheduled for this week.
Earlier, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that a joint statement by the two countries with details of the deal was planned to be published soon. According to him, the agreements with the United States “will open up huge opportunities for labor-intensive and export-intensive sectors“, including light industry, jewelry, machine building and aircraft manufacturing.
US President Donald Trump earlier said that the United States and India had agreed on a deal on additional terms of bilateral trade. He specified that Washington intends to reduce the rate of retaliatory duties from 25% to 18%. According to Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allegedly agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy it from the United States and possibly from Venezuela.
As stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Russia is confident in the continued demand for Russian energy resources in the world, as they provide a balance between supply and demand.