FTA talks with EU moving very smooth, hope to sign deal soon - govt official
This story was originally published at 18:16 IST on 22 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – The negotiations for a free trade agreement with the European Union are moving on a very smooth trajectory and the government expects to sign the deal with the bloc soon, a commerce ministry official said. The official did not give a timeline for the conclusion of the talks.
The European Union officials are very keen on taking forward the discussions for a mutually beneficial pact, the official said. India and the EU are set to hold the next round of negotiations on Mar. 10-14 in Brussels.
Earlier this week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited the EU to meet the newly-appointed European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic. "... the two leaders outlined political directions to both the teams to develop a mutually beneficial agenda for trade and investment and a robust FTA in an expedited manner to meet global challenges," the commerce ministry had said after Goyal's meeting with Sefcovic.
India and the EU had held the last round of negotiations in September. The two sides initiated talks for a trade agreement in June 2023 after a gap of nine years. Though India and the EU launched negotiations for a broad-based trade and investment agreement in 2007, the discussions were suspended in 2014 following differences over market access.
The EU is among the top trading partners of India. In 2023-24 (Apr-Mar), India exported goods worth $75.93 billion to the EU and imported goods worth $61.48 billion, as per the data available with the commerce ministry. End
US$1 = INR 86.32
Reported by Kuldeep Singh and Krity Ambey
Edited by Saji George Titus
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