His comments come amid renewed optimism on both sides, as US officials have publicly acknowledged receiving the most forward-leaning trade proposals from India to date.
According to a PTI report earlier, US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington on Tuesday that India has presented some of the most forward-leaning proposals yet on the proposed bilateral trade agreement.
Greer said the US had received “best” ever offers from India, even as disagreements persist over access to American row crops and meat products, including corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton.
“They have been very difficult nut to crack…but they have been quite forward leaning….the type of offers that they have been talking to us about …have been the best, we have ever received as a country, so I think that is a viable alternative market,” he said.
His remarks come as negotiators from both nations began two-day talks in New Delhi on Wednesday, marking a crucial push to conclude the first phase of a long-discussed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).