India, EU re-launch FTA negotiations
New Delhi, June 18
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis formally re-launched EU-India free trade negotiations.
Goyal and the EC official also launched EU-India negotiations on an investment protection agreement and another on geographical indications.
A first round of negotiations covering the three areas of work will be hosted by India from June 27 to July 1. The two sides agreed to fast-track the talks with the aim of concluding them by the end of 2023, the EU said in a press release.
The EU and India had first launched negotiations for a free trade agreement in 2007, before the talks were suspended in 2013 due to a gap in ambition.
The EU is India’s third largest trade partner, accounting for almost 11 per cent of Indian trade in 2021. India is the EU’s tenth most important trading partner, accounting for just over two per cent of EU trade in 2021.
