India, June 26 -- India and the US are "very close" to an interim trade deal, Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, stressing that free trade agreements are "all about a comparative advantage."

The minister was speaking at an event in London where he was asked about the progress of talks between New Delhi and Washington, when he explained the principle of competitive benefit. "And until the framework of getting the competitive advantage can be finalised, we can't enter into force a US deal," Goyal said.

He was replying to a specific question at the India Global Forum in London on the progress of the India-US BTA talks, following his two-day meeting with the US trade representative in New Delhi on June 23-24. "We are ver...