India ready to help countries facing food shortage: Piyush Goyal

In an interview on Saturday after India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), Goyal, who also holds cabinet portfolios for consumer affairs, food and public distribution and textiles, said the country would Willing to expand. The economic partnership and economic cooperation and trade agreement with Australia will open up opportunities for the Indian wine industry and grape farmers. Along with talks on other free trade agreements (FTAs), Goyal pointed out that FTAs ​​with the UAE and Australia send a message that India is open to major engagements and seeks to expand its international footprint. Edited excerpt:

Australia already has trade agreements with Japan and the US. So are we talking about the Comprehensive Quad Economic Cooperation Framework?

I’ll jump the gun if we start discussing that. Clearly, the Indo-Pacific Economic Partnership is something that all countries are very keen to expand. Japan, Australia, the US and India, both as part of the Quad and as countries that share the values ​​of democracy, where the rule of law prevails, where there is a high element of transparency; We believe that we all need to work together to create a resilient supply chain.

While the Ukraine war has caused human suffering, it has also opened up opportunities to help other countries. What is India’s strategy?

India does not see opportunities in adversity, the nature of which we are seeing happening and playing out. We believe that we are very sensitive to the pain and suffering of the people out there. We believe that conflict must end and peace prevails. However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused disruption in supply chains. India is ready and ready to support any nation which is in distress due to the problem of food grains and food grains and availability of adequate goods and services of any nature. India is ready to support any country to meet its requirements like wheat and medicines. India will be ready, ready and happy to support the nations.

India, which bought oil from Russia, got a strong reaction. We are negotiating an FTA with the EU and the UK. Are we seeing its impact in our interactions with these countries?

I don’t think other issues have had any impact on our trade negotiations. They are independent issues. You have already seen that we have finalized an agreement with Australia.

This is probably the first time that we have reduced the duty on liquor or liquor in the FTA. Could this be a blueprint for other talks with the EU and UK that are looking for similar duty cuts?

I have said before that every trade agreement stands on its own feet. There is no blueprint that pertains from one country to another. Some things may be the same, and there may be different things. Every country has its own unique circumstances. So it’s a package. Also, we have been very careful during our extensive stakeholder consultations.

We have opened up opportunities for the growth of our wine industry. Australian and Indian companies will work together in partnership to expand our wine opportunities. Our wines are of a distinct taste, which will help us create an international market for our winery. That’s why our wine industry is extremely pleased with this agreement. They have sought support from Australia to bring in the technology and scale to help with their marketing.

I am told that there are hardly 6,000 farmers who grow grapes for wine. This can be increased to 600,000 and farmers can be given an opportunity as the industry grows. Inexplicably, we have made it a bugbear due to which we could not interact with many countries. So look at this situation, if lakhs and millions of people are going to get jobs and jobs, then we have to do what is good. Should we confine the wine industry to this? 500 crore investment which is today? Or should we not focus on expanding our wine industry? Should we limit it to 6,000 farmers or try to get grapes to 600,000 farmers for wine? Why should we have 4-5 small one acre, five acre or 10 acre wineries, or should we have 500 and promote tourism?

Of all the FTAs ​​that India is currently negotiating, which one is progressing faster?

In free-trade agreements, one should never pre-determine what is fast track, what is delayed. It’s like a race. Anyone who matches or responds faster to us will get benefit. The United Arab Emirates got the first mover advantage as they were the most aggressive. Developed countries of this nature, Australia got a first mover advantage among large economies, as they were actively engaged. I hope other countries will now see that India is ready for greater engagement, India is looking to expand its international footprint, and India is a great place to work.

The situation in Sri Lanka is going from bad to worse. Will this affect our business?

We are very concerned about the situation. We want to support Sri Lanka in every way possible. You have seen Dr (Subrahmanyam) Jaishankar going there. We have also provided significant humanitarian aid and significant loans to Sri Lanka, and we pray and hope that the situation there will return to normal very soon.

Dilsha Seth in Bengaluru contributed to the story.