New Delhi — Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman identified concluding a trade deal with the United States at the earliest opportunity as a priority on Friday, pointing to broader gains for global commerce and the economic relationship between the two nations.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters Thursday that the opening phase of a bilateral trade agreement between India and the United States had been completed and was moving through the legal drafting process. Goyal indicated that a deal could be finalised and signed before long.

Talks between the two sides have continued, with Sitharaman expressing a wish that a trade agreement between India and the United States be concluded as soon as possible, for the benefit of commerce between the two partners and the broader global trading system.

Sitharaman pointed to two unresolved pressures in the bilateral trade relationship with China — a widening gap between imports and exports, and the continued difficulty Indian goods face in gaining entry to Chinese markets — even after extended rounds of dialogue between the two sides.

Addressing an Atlantic Council gathering on the margins of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Sitharaman noted that India had repeatedly pushed for access to Chinese markets for goods ranging from generic pharmaceuticals and bovine meat to vegetables and other perishable items, yet tangible headway had remained elusive across multiple rounds of engagement.

Phytosanitary requirements and other non-tariff restrictions imposed by China represent the primary obstacle to bilateral trade, she argued, while noting that avenues for dialogue and joint review exist but have not been taken up to address those barriers. Bilateral negotiations, slow as the process might be, remained the preferred path for addressing trade imbalances, she noted, with punitive tariffs on partner countries set aside as a tool.

Sitharaman described BRICS as a forum built around the collective wellbeing of its member populations, not a vehicle for opposing any nation or alliance, adding that she did not believe the grouping was designed to work against others. Her remarks framed the arrangement as a vehicle for deepening ties between the parties through BRICS.

Pointing to BRICS membership accounting for close to 40 per cent of the global population, she put forward the view that deeper ties among those nations held the potential to open up trade pathways, build cross-border understanding, and widen the range of economic possibilities available to their peoples. Drawn together by an expanding membership, between 11 and 12 nations were in active dialogue with each other, their combined share of worldwide trade standing at roughly 45 per cent, she noted.

Sitharaman pointed to data showing the economy had held up through a period of worldwide disruption, placing the country among the top performers by growth rate across large economies over roughly the four to five years that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. Broad-based growth, expanded access to resources, youth skills investment, fiscal discipline, and a lift in public capital spending were the factors she pointed to in explaining the country's performance.

The minister put the case that routing public money into infrastructure yields a wider economic dividend than transferring equivalent amounts directly to citizens, while also creating employment and sustaining broader activity — and that this particular spending avenue places comparatively less pressure on the fiscal deficit than several alternative outlays. Sitharaman contended that government borrowing tracks closely with infrastructure spending, and that putting debt to work on physical assets has delivered returns to the broader economy — a position she reinforced by noting that asset creation, funded through borrowing, had produced measurable economic gains.