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Informist, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

 

--Trade secy: EU wants to cover services sector under FTA 

 

NEW DELHI – India and the European Union are aiming for a balanced, comprehensive and mutually beneficial free trade agreement, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday. India and the EU have held nine rounds of negotiations so far, but now the talks need political direction to arrive at a commercially meaningful deal, Goyal said after meeting ambassadors of the European Commission Delegation and member states of the EU. 

 

"The (commerce) minister further underlined that any sustainability discussions must appreciate the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and implementation of such measures should take into account differing paths of development," the commerce ministry said in a release. 

 

At a separate event in the national capital on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the EU wants to cover the service sector under the FTA. "When I was talking to the EU with respect to our FTA negotiations, they were telling us that the EU may be more competitive in terms of manufacturing and India is much more competitive in terms of services exports. They want to have this balance in the FTAs with respect to services and I said yes we will do so," Barthwal said. 

 

At the meeting with Goyal, the European contingent said both sides would gain by integrating the two economies and building resilience in their supply chains, the release said.

 

India’s bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $137.41 billion in 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), making it the largest trading partner of India for goods. The bilateral trade in services between India and the EU was estimated at $51.45 billion in 2023. "The trade agreement with the EU would help India in further expanding and diversifying its exports of goods and services while securing the value chains," the release said.  End

 

US$1 = INR 84.85

 

Reported by Shubham Rana

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

 

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