India to sign Asia-Pacific trade deal only if local industry is protected: Goyal

India will only sign a 16-member Asia-Pacific trade pact if its local industry is protected and if the deal would not lead to indiscriminate imports, trade minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

Talks are ongoing to negotiate the China-initiated Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Piyush Goyal said, without specifying whether India would sign the deal in 2019.

New Delhi had asked South Korea and Japan to review free trade agreements with India, he added.

Also read: RCEP meet: ASEAN members, partners reaffirm their resolve to conclude free trade deal talks 

India manages to push ASEAN members to review FTA pact; to seek a simpler deal