The government is steering clear of free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries that directly compete with Indian industry and instead is focusing on countries that complement India\u2019s economic priorities, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cCountries that come to India with products, goods, and services that straight away impact our own businesses, we have stopped all those types of engagements,\u201d Goyal said, addressing industry leaders at an Assocham event.<\/p>\n
The minister\u2019s remarks underline a recalibration of India\u2019s trade priorities after it walked out of the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019, a move Goyal described as \u201ca bold decision that saved Indian industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also Read<\/strong> | India, Brazil agree to expand trade partnership; Goyal calls for stronger ties<\/a><\/p>\n The expansive trade liberalization will shift toward a strategy rooted in protecting national interests and building partnerships that complement, not compete with, India\u2019s economic priorities.<\/p>\n Instead, India is forging trade partnerships that complement its domestic economy, Goyal said.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the FTAs we have done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia gives us coking coal<\/a>….and they opened their doors for a lot of our products, automobiles, and students,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The minister also highlighted the recently concluded FTA<\/a> with the European Free Trade Association, comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, as a model of mutually beneficial trade.<\/p>\n Goyal said that India was not part of RCEP\u2019s original framework of Asean, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and China, but joined negotiations in 2011 without clear reasoning.<\/p>\n