India, EU Officials In Constant Touch To Resolve FTA Hurdles Ahead Of January Summit
The India-EU Summit will be held on January 27 here, and the top EU leadership will grace the Republic Day parade as the chief guest on January 26.
New Delhi: Indian and European Union (EU) teams are in constant touch with each other to resolve the remaining contentious issues in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) ahead of the visit of the top EU leadership to India later this month, an official source said on Wednesday.
The India-EU Summit will be held on January 27 here, and the top EU leadership will grace the Republic Day parade as the chief guest on January 26. Recently, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal held a two-day meeting with EU commissioner for trade and economic security Maros Sefcovic in Brussels to review the progress of negotiations.
These continuous engagements are important, as both sides are looking to conclude the negotiations at the earliest. “Both sides are in constant engagement to resolve the remaining contentious issues,” the official said.
These issues include the EU's carbon tax and duty cuts on certain goods. Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal will also meet his EU counterpart, Director General for Trade of the European Commission Sabine Weyand, in Brussels on January 6-7. So far, 16 rounds of negotiations have been held.
India is pushing for zero-duty access for its labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles and leather. On the other hand, the EU is demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles, medical devices, wine, spirits, meat, poultry, and a strong intellectual property regime.
