New Delhi [India], July 6 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India does not negotiate under deadlines and does so from a position of strength.

Goyal said the government holds discussions keeping national interests in mind and attacked the Congress, saying this is 'not weak India under UPA which would make agreements which were not in the national interest'.

His remarks came hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Modi government over Goyal's earlier remarks in which he had said that India does not enter trade deals based on deadline or time pressure.

'Piyush Goyal can beat his chest all he wants, mark my words, Modi will meekly bow to the Trump tariff deadline,' Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X, attaching a news report about the Union Minister's remarks.

'India does not negotiate under deadlines. We negotiate keeping national interests in mind, and national interest is paramount in all our work across the world. We have entered into free trade agreements after the Modi government came in with Mauritius, with the United Arab Emirates, with Australia, with the four-nation EFTA grouping - Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland,' Goyal told reporters.

'Now with UK last month. And we continue to work with other developed nations like the EU bloc of 27 European countries, with the United States, with Oman, with Peru, with Chile. Today, India negotiates from a position of strength. We are self-confident. We can compete with anybody in the world. This is not a weak India under Congress and UPA which would negotiate and make agreements which were not in national interest,' he added.

Goyal also visited Aerospace Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Devanahalli in Karnataka and expressed confidence that India will become a preferred supplier for defence and aerospace given the great relationships it is creating with many other developed countries and said a lot of design and innovation is happening through global capability centres in the country.

The Minister also expressed confidence that apart from design and innovation, more and more patens will be filed in India.

'I have absolutely no doubt that in the years to come, particularly given the great relationships that India is creating with many other developed countries, India will become a preferred supplier for defence and aerospace. Already, a lot of design and innovation is happening through global capability centres in India. Now, we will not only design and innovate in India, we will patent in India, produce in India and hopefully become globally relevant partner in supply chains. So, I am truly very optimistic about the potential of this sector,' he said.

Asked about scope of collaboration between Indian startups and global aerospace companies, the minister said that SEZ doesn't necessarily have any role in that but there is scope for a bridge or a connection between startups in India and internationally in the space of defence and aerospace.

'I will ask Startup India to see how we can use the services of all these wonderful companies and their connections to see if we can connect the two,' he said.

Asked about India's journey towards global aerospace hub, he said this defence and aerospace zone will be the beginning of a path-breaking journey.

'Starting from HAL and now with all these new units coming up, all the other Plants that I see around here, I am quite sure that this defence and aerospace zone will just be the beginning of a path-breaking journey in this field. I have absolutely no doubt that in the years to come, particularly given the great relationships that India is creating with many other developed countries, India will become a preferred supplier for defence and aerospace. Already a lot of design and innovation is happening through global capability centres in India,' he said. (ANI)