Addressing a state consultation workshop on Make in India, Goyal said that India will enter into an FTA or comprehensive partnership agreements on its own terms and based on what is best for the people and national interest.
"In terms of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement), a lot of wrong information has been spread all over. Let me assure each one of you that India will no more sign any FTA in a rush. India is not in a weak leadership which had worked only on deadlines to execute FTAs. India will enter into an FTA or comprehensive partnerships on India's terms," said Goyal.
"We cannot remain in an isolated world also. We have to engage with the rest of the world. The world is moving towards more and more global integration. So, India will have to finally balance our imperatives to protect domestic interests, yet also engage with the rest of the world," he added.
The RCEP is a mega free-trade agreement being negotiated by 16 countries, including ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Member countries are hoping to wrap up the negotiations for the RCEP deal in November.
Several Indian domestic sectors such as metals, dairy, electronics, and chemicals have raised concerns over the agreement due to the presence of China amongst the member nations. India has a huge trade deficit of over USD 50 billion with the country.
Also read: Trade agreements must balance economic merit and strategic interests, says Jaishankar
As for other trade agreements, Goyal said that India had started discussions with the European Union, with whom a proposed free-trade pact has been stalled since May 2013.
"The new EU commission is being formed. Soon after that, we will engage with EU to start discussions on an FTA with them," said Goyal, adding that discussions with Britain would start after Brexit.
