India will not rush deals under deadlines or pressure, says Goyal

Union Commerce Minister Goyal at the Berlin Global Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, on Friday
| Photo Credit:
Bloomberg

Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India will not do a deal with deadlines or with a “gun to our head” even as legal texts are being readied in areas of convergence in the ongoing India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations.

“We are talking to the US, but we do not do deals in a hurry and we do not do deals with deadlines or with a gun to our head,” Goyal said at the Berlin Global Dialogue in Germany on Friday.

The comments are significant as India’s purchase of Russian oil is among the sticky extraneous factors clouding the BTA negotiations. Of the 50 per cent tariffs imposed by Washington on most Indian goods, 25 per cent is a penalty for the purchase of Russian oil and is linked to India stopping its sourcing from the country. The US has continued to mount pressure on India, with President Donald Trump recently maintaining that India had agreed to bring down its oil purchase from Russia to “almost nothing” by the year-end.

Confident Stand

Goyal on Friday asserted that India would not come under pressure due to the high tariffs imposed by the US and would try to overcome it through its resilience. “India looks long-term, India never takes decisions in a rush or on pressure of the moment. And we’ve accepted if there’s a tariff on us, there is a tariff on us. We’re looking at how to overcome that — we’re looking at newer markets, we’re looking at a stronger demand impetus within the Indian economy. So we have a very resilient structure,” he added.

While the Minister struck an unyielding note, officials tracking the negotiations said that India and the US are “very close” to concluding the proposed BTA. “Both sides are converging on most of the issues and legal texts are being readied. But there are issues regarding Russian oil which are being handled at a diplomatic level,” an official closely tracking the matter said.

Goyal said that India never decided on who its friends will be based on any considerations other than national interest and it would not be acceptable if somebody said it can’t be friends with some other country, for instance the EU or Kenya.

“I was reading in today’s paper, Germany is asking for an exemption from US sanctions on (Russian) oil…The UK already has sorted or probably got an exemption for procuring oil from the US…so then why single out India,” he said.

The Indian team of negotiators is back from Washington after “fruitful” talks last week and discussions are now on virtually, the official said. 

“We are very near as far as the deal is concerned, with no new issue acting as a hurdle,” the official said. Apart from the issue of Russian oil, other sticky issues included the US’ insistence on market access for its GM soya and corn and tariff cuts on agricultural products.

Published on October 24, 2025