Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that India is pursuing a strong trade agreement with the United States to drive economic growth and maintain smooth supply chains. Speaking at The Economic Times Awards, she stated, "In a broad sense, I think, both sides should have ambition for a good treaty, and nobody can fault that. Particularly for India, when you are looking at Viksit Bharat, you need to have good traction." She emphasized the need to boost exports, noting Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s focus on this goal following his recent trade talks in Washington.

Sitharaman highlighted Goyal’s role, saying, "I am sure the commerce minister is quite seized of this, and he would take this (trade) agreement to meet the ambitions that we have in terms of promoting growth, in terms of ensuring that our supply chains are intact and smooth and flowing well, and therefore, that would guide his negotiations, I would think." The India-US trade talks aim to double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.

Amid global tariff concerns, she warned of potential dumping, stating, "When such chances exist, we will have to guard ourselves against it. But, how smartly do we do that?... We need to be smart about these sorts of things." She noted the government must balance stakeholder views, adding, "The government's task is to make sure that we plan for it and balance everybody's interests."

On free trade agreements (FTAs), Sitharaman stressed, "The first principle is to put India's interest first." She criticized past FTAs, saying, "The language of certain agreements signed by the previous government was very loose," and affirmed, "Today our understanding is good negotiation... India’s interest should be absolutely your top priority." The commerce ministry is reviewing deals with Japan, Korea, and ASEAN to prioritize India’s needs.