India, Peru resume trade talks after nearly 5 years

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : India has resumed trade talks with Peru after a long gap, with the sixth round of India-Peru negotiations for a trade agreement held in the South American country from 12 to 14 February. Various working group meetings were held, including on trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, customs procedures and trade facilitation, dispute settlement, and legal and institutional Issues, the ministry of commerce and industry said in a statement on Thursday “These meetings involved the participation of more than 70 delegates from both countries together, including their respective negotiating teams," it said. Over the next fortnight, other working groups will hold virtual meetings on technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and trade remedies and cooperation.

Both India and Peru, as trading partners, are looking to reduce or eliminate customs duties on several goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services. Peru is a major producer of lithium, lead, zinc, gold, copper, and silver. The country is surrounded by the ‘lithium triangle’ comprising Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

The seventh round of India-Peru negotiations for a trade agreement will be held in April. Mint had on 8 February reported that India would resume talks with Peru to conclude a trade agreement. The sixth round of trade talks between the two countries comes after representatives from the governments of India and Peru participated in a special round of negotiations virtually in October.

Talks for the India-Peru trade agreement commenced in 2017, with the fifth round concluding in August 2019. However, the talks halted during the pandemic years. As things stand, India and Peru have been