India-U.S. FTA: MEA Drops Big Update After PM Modi-Trump Meet At G7; US Official To Visit India

[00:00:00]with the United States where we have made significant progress already on the conclusion of an interim free trade bilateral trade agreement and we are in the final stages of concluding that agreement next in the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister and President Donald Trump yesterday in Evian this was a major subject of discussion both leaders once again gave instructions and I would say and by no means least is with the United States where we have made significant progress already on the conclusion of an interim free trade bilateral trade agreement and we are in the final stages of concluding that agreement next week in fact the United States Trade Representative Mr. Jameson Greer will be visiting India to take forward these discussions and in the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister and President Donald Trump yesterday in Evian this was a major subject of discussion both leaders once again gave instructions for these for this agreement to be to be concluded at the earliest possible so you can see the the trade aspect as a major major focus of this visit and it carried on in a sense today in Paris to just bring you up to date with Prime Minister's engagements here he began the day by meeting four leading French CEOs these included Mr. Arthur Mensch the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mistral AI Mr. Mr. Benoit Bazin Chairman and CEO of Saint-Gobain Mr. Martin Sion Chief Executive Officer of Alstom and Rodolphe Saadé the Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM uh group.

[00:02:03]Uh the uh French leaders, uh corporate leaders, all of whom have uh significant association with India already, uh expressed their strong confidence in India's rapidly growing uh economy, and expressed their readiness to expand their local footprints and deepen their uh presence and their partnership with uh India.

[00:02:30]Uh so, uh the that's the first two themes, uh technology and trade. Uh let me come to uh the final one, which is uh regional and global security-related issues.

[00:02:44]These essentially came up in several bilateral meetings uh at uh Evian, on the sidelines of G7.

[00:02:53]Uh these were obviously also a significant uh subject of discussion at uh the meetings themselves uh that the G7 and G7 outreach leaders uh had uh in uh Evian.

[00:03:07]And uh of course, the focus was on uh the uh situation in uh West Asia.

[00:03:15]You're all aware of the uh developments related to uh that uh subject, and uh in his meetings with his counterparts and also in his interventions at uh the G7, uh Prime Minister expressed uh once again India's uh uh desire to see uh sustained peace and security in this region. Uh India welcomed the developments uh that have taken place through the understanding that has been reached between the United States and uh Iran, and hopes to see a rapid return uh to peace stability uh this region. We have always emphasized the importance of maintaining the freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce through the international waterways in the region.

[00:04:05]Prime Minister specifically emphasized the issue of the safety and security of seafarers. He noted how hundreds of thousands of Indian seafarers essentially provide a global public good by serving on maritime platforms that serve the global community and serve global maritime trade in a big way. And why therefore their safety and security should be a common concern of the global community. And this is something that he voiced not just in his intervention at the G7 summit outreach meetings, but also in his bilateral meetings with several several leaders.