EU to initiate dialogue on FTA with India
Shares EU official Valdis Dombrovskis on twitter platform, after meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the WEF meet in Geneva
New Delhi: European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis have said the EU will formally launch negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement with India 'very soon'.
He has held a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on the sidelines of the WEF meet in Geneva. "Excellent meeting with Minister Goyal @PiyushGoyal from India, will formally launch Free Trade Agreement negotiations very soon," according to a tweet by Dombrovskis. India's Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam in April had said that India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) will restart negotiations for their long-pending free trade agreement in June.
The proposed agreement, officially dubbed as Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and the EU has been stalled since May 2013 due to several issues. BTIA is a proposed comprehensive free trade agreement being negotiated by the two sides. India's merchandise exports to EU member countries stood at about $65 billion in 2021-22, while imports aggregated to $51.4 billion.
