New York, May 29 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal gave assurances that the India-US interim agreement is close as he provided an “encouraging update” on bilateral trade negotiations during an interaction with eminent business leaders, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said.

Goyal also discussed ways to further deepen India-US trade, investment and supply-chain partnerships during the closed-door roundtable interaction on Thursday.

The Consulate General of India in New York, in collaboration with USISPF, hosted Goyal for the closed-door roundtable discussion, where he engaged with over 50 prominent business and industry leaders.

Goyal said he highlighted India's strong growth story, reform-driven business environment, and expanding opportunities for global investors under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Discussed ways to further deepen India-US trade, investment, innovation, and supply-chain partnerships for shared prosperity,” he said in a post on X.

USISPF said Goyal provided an “encouraging update on US-India trade negotiations, assuring the industry that an interim agreement is close." He emphasised that “investor confidence, business stability, and a predictable regulatory environment remain top priorities for the Indian government,” USISPF said, adding that Goyal’s engagement reaffirmed India’s strong commitment to deepening the bilateral economic partnership.

A team from the US is set to visit India from June 1-4 to finalise details of the interim trade pact and take forward negotiations under the broader bilateral trade agreement on various areas such as market access, non-tariff measures, and customs facilitation.

USISPF said that as the negotiating team heads to India early next week, it “wishes both governments a productive and successful round of negotiations.” Goyal also held bilateral talks with leading industry heads. In his meeting with Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, Ted Pick, Goyal said discussions focused on “strengthening long-term investments and institutional partnerships in India, while exploring how Morgan Stanley can leverage the immense opportunities emerging across sectors in the country.” With Chairman of Warburg Pincus Chip Kaye, Goyal exchanged views on the evolving global investment landscape and India's emergence as a key driver of growth and innovation. “Highlighted that with scale, talent, rising domestic demand, and a steady policy push, India continues to create new opportunities across sectors for global investors,” Goyal said.

In his meeting with Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Chintu Patel, Goyal said he exchanged views on investment opportunities in India’s pharmaceutical sector and avenues for deeper collaboration to further the innovation landscape in India.

Goyal discussed “deepening collaboration in digital commerce, digital security, and next-generation payment solutions” with Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach. "Conversations centred around India’s growing digital economy, robust digital public infrastructure, and its emergence as a trusted global hub for fintech innovation,” Goyal added.

Goyal had led a business delegation of over 150 members to Canada from May 25-27 to seek investments, enhance collaborations and give impetus to talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).

Following Goyal’s visit to Canada, VFS Global Head of Americas Amit Kumar Sharma said in a statement to PTI that the visit and the strong business engagement accompanying it "reflects a renewed momentum in the India–Canada relationship at a critically important time.

“What this ultimately drives is greater mobility of students, entrepreneurs, investors, skilled professionals, and families across one of the world’s most important people-to-people corridors,” Sharma said.

He added that industry leaders expect the India–Canada corridor to become “increasingly dynamic" in the years ahead, supported by deeper economic collaboration, educational exchange, and business connectivity.

“The true strength of any bilateral relationship is measured not only by trade, but by the ease and confidence with which people can move across borders. As mobility demand continues to grow, the focus must now shift toward building operational capacity, trusted systems, and seamless customer experiences that can support this next phase of engagement between the two nations,” Sharma said. PTI YAS AMS

India-US trade negotiations near interim agreement as talks focus on market access, customs facilitation and investor confidence. India-US trade negotiations advanced toward an interim agreement, with assurances that discussions are nearing finalisation. The engagement focused on bilateral trade, investment, innovation and supply-chain partnerships, alongside investor confidence, business stability and a predictable regulatory environment. Further talks are expected to address market access, non-tariff measures and customs facilitation under the broader bilateral trade framework.