The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday disclosed conversations with the Biden Administration and corporate leaders in the US regarding India’s developing economic trajectory owing to the new economic reforms recently announced and implemented by the Modi Government.
During the conclusion of the Washington DC arm of her tour in the US, she stated that the Biden Administration had a positive outlook on the reforms undertaken by the Modi government. “Particularly the steps taken for the withdrawal of the retrospective tax has been mentioned by the United States Administration as a very positive step,” she said.
Moreover, N.Sitharaman notified that the businesses she had been in conversation with had also welcomed the decision to withdraw retrospective tax in the country and termed it a bold step taken by the Modi administration. Explaining the legal compulsions which led to a delay in the process of withdrawing the taxes, she stated that “we waited and the moment the logical conclusions were reached, we went to the Parliament in withdrawing that.”
Responding to a question on a trade deal with the US, the Finance Minister said that her aim was to lock a investment incentivising agreement for which there is time till December.
She affirmed that both the countries would be willing to carry on the negotiations and decide upon a conclusion at the earliest, but stated that the Indian Commerce Ministry is engaged with its American counterpart on the larger issue of the trade itself.
The Finance Minister had embarked on a week-long trip to the US on October 11 to attend the annual meet of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting, among 25 other bilateral meetings.
The Finance Minister’s first trip to the US after the COVID-19 pandemic hit both countries, which began from Boston, will end after an interactive session with the business community Sitharaman is set to attend in New York.
