India and the European Union (EU) are nearing the conclusion of their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, the Trade and Economic Security Commissioner of the 27-nation bloc Maros Sefcovic said after meeting Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
“I am confident to say we’re nearing the conclusion of our FTA negotiations. The cumulation of an intense past year – likely my most frequent trade engagement – reflecting its importance,” Sefcovic posted on X.
Geopolitical Shield
“Pleased to agree that sustained and constructive engagement between us and our teams over the past year has brought us closer to a fruitful outcome,” Goyal responded to the post. It was the 10th in-person engagement between the two.
To conclude the deal, the leadership of the EU – President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa – have landed in New Delhi. They will be chief guests at the 77th Republic Day celebrations and will participate in the 16th India-EU Summit.
They were accorded a ceremonial welcome on Sunday and met Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar. On the visit, the commission president said, “India and Europe have made a clear choice. The choice of strategic partnership, dialogue and openness. Leveraging our complementary strengths and building mutual resilience.”
“We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible,” she added.
The summit will offer an opportunity to build on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen collaboration across key policy areas such as trade, security and defence, the clean transition and people-to-people cooperation, a statement by the European Council on the agenda of the Summit meeting.
Leaders will also discuss trade, in context of the ongoing negotiations on a free-trade agreement that started in 2007 (and was relaunched in 2022). Such an agreement would boost bilateral trade and investment ties and drive shared prosperity, the statement added.
Beyond Trade
At the summit, leaders are expected to adopt a joint EU-India comprehensive strategic agenda, which aims to increase strategic cooperation between both sides in four areas, reinforced by enablers across pillars: prosperity and sustainability, technology and innovation, security and defence, and connectivity and global issues.