India, US agree to work collaboratively in multilateral trade bodies WTO, G20, OECD

New Delhi, [India] November 23 : India and the United States have agreed to work collaboratively and constructively in relevant multilateral trade bodies including the World Trade Organization (WTO), The Group of Twenty (G20) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to enhance bilateral trade relationship between New Delhi and Washington.
In a joint statement, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that they also agreed to work upon the multilateral trade bodies for achieving a shared vision of a transparent, rules-based global trading system among market economies and democracies.
Acknowledging the significance of creating resilient and secure supply chains, both the ministers have agreed that India and the US could, together with like-minded partners, take a leading role in developing secure supply chains in critical sectors of trade and technology, the joint statement said.
Considering the strong history of collaboration between India and United States in the field of health, the Ministers identified this sector as bearing particular importance in the context of work on resilient supply chains. India also noted its interest in partnering with the US and allies in developing a secure pharmaceutical manufacturing base for augmenting global supply chains, it read further.
They shared perspectives on the importance of health-related goods and services in US-India trade relations and pledged to pursue constructive dialogue on a range of regulatory issues affecting trade in health-related products.
Following this, the US acknowledged India's concerns regarding delays, arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, in US regulatory inspections of Indian pharmaceutical facilities. They also agreed on the importance of critical and emerging technologies in delivering economic growth and achieving shared strategic priorities, and took note of the work underway on these issues within the Quad framework.
According to the joint statement, both of them discussed the importance of regular sharing of perspectives on issues, including cyberspace, semiconductors, AI, 5G, 6G and future generation telecommunications technology. They welcomed the participation and collaboration of the private sector in both countries in building stronger linkages in these critical sectors, and supporting resilient and secure global supply chains.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has also appreciated the economic reforms such as liberalization of FDI in the insurance sector, elimination of a retrospective provision in income tax, and launching of the "Single Window System" for facilitating investment.
According to the statement, the reforms were initiated by India and have enabled improvements in the business ecosystem and Ambassador Tai encouraged the continuation of market-oriented reforms implemented through transparent means.
Both the Ministers have underlined the importance of establishing a conducive environment for further integrating India and the US to the benefit of both sides.