India and the European Union (EU) hope to finalise their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) when officials from two sides meet in a fortnight from now, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Monday.
“In another fortnight the President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyan and European Council President Antonio Costa will be visiting New Delhi where we hope to take these discussions forward towards a favourable conclusion,” the secretary said at a press conference.
Both officials to participate in India’s Republic Day as chief guests
Both the officials will participate in India’s Republic Day as chief guests and later participate in India-EU Summit on January 27.
The joint statement after summit level talks between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said: “ Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merz reiterated their support for the conclusion of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement as a key outcome of the upcoming EU-India Summit, which will facilitate trade flows and inject further momentum into German-Indian economic relations.”
Misri on India’s diplomatic relations with Germany
Germany is the biggest trade partner of India in the EU with bilateral exchanges at $ 51 billion, which is a quarter of total trade with the 27-member bloc.
“There is no doubt that on account of developments in recent years the urgency in concluding this FTA (EU) has increased and last year in February when the EU college of commissioners paid an unprecedented visit to India a political decision was taken at the highest level to expedite the conclusion of this FTA,” Misri said.
To wrap up the negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Brussels last week for a meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on January 8-9. Prior to his visit, high-level discussions between Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and the Director-General for Trade, European Commission Sabine Weyand were held on 6-7 January.
The official-level meetings focused on stocktaking the progress achieved across various negotiating tracks. The officials worked to “narrow divergences” and ensure clarity on outstanding issues, clearing the path for the Ministerial dialogue.
In their talks, Goyal and Sefcovic reaffirmed their strong political resolve to address pending issues and renewed determination for its early conclusion.
Both sides also took note of the steady progress achieved across various negotiating tracks including market access for goods, rules of origin and services. Goyal and Sefcovic also provided guidance to negotiating teams to resolve pending issues and expedite the agreement.
India and the EU started negotiations on FTA in July 2022. Since then they have held 14 rounds of negotiations. The proposed FTA deals with 23 policy areas organised as chapters.
The EU is currently India’s largest trading partner and a key investor. Bilateral merchandise trade between India and EU stood at $ 90.7 billion dollars in 2024-25 with India’s exports at $ 51.0 billion and imports at $ 39.7 billion. In contrast the bilateral goods trade between India and US was $ 84.2 billion with Indian exports at $ 53.0 billion and imports at $ 31.2 billion.