New Delhi, Oct 17 (PTI) Chief negotiators for theproposed India-EU free trade agreement will meet in New Delhinext month to discuss the way forward for the resumption ofthe long-stalled talks over it.
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India TomaszKozlowski said the chief negotiators would meet around mid-November.
"We need India as a partner," he said during a sessionhosted by a city-based think-tank.
His remarks assume significance as the negotiations forthe proposed India-EU Broad based Trade and InvestmentAgreement (BTIA) have witnessed many hurdles due to majordifferences on crucial issues such as intellectual propertyrights and duty cut on automobile and spirits.
"The 14th India-EU Summit this year was different fromthe one held before that. For the first time we called eachother a 'natural partner' as expressed in the joint statementtoo. We are both governed by values and principles ofdemocracy and rule-based international order.
"And, now we have transformed those values into clearlyidentified interests... and our partnership is forward-looking," Kozlowski said during the session on 'India-EURelations: Can it be a factor of stability in an UncertainWorld?' at the India International Centre here.
"For India, the EU is the biggest trading partner. And,after the Brexit it will only grow bigger," Kozlowski said.
On the resumption of talks on the FTA, the EU envoy said,"We want concluding of a broad and comprehensive FTA.""It has to be a win-win situation," he said.
"The chief negotiators will be meeting here soon, mid-November. We (EU) want to move this forward and I'm ratheroptimistic," the EU envoy said.
The 14th India-EU Summit was held in New Delhi on October6, during which the two sides had held extensive deliberationson bilateral, regional and international issues, including thethe Rohingya crisis and the volatile situation in the Koreanpeninsula.
However, there was no major headway on the much-delayedfree trade agreement (FTA) at Modi's meeting with the EuropeanCouncil President Donald Franciszek Tusk and EuropeanCommission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
India and the EU have been strategic partners since 2004.
The 13th India-EU Summit was held in Brussels on March 30 lastyear during Modi's visit.
The last year's summit meeting had also failed to makeany headway on the resumption of long stalled negotiations fora free trade agreement.
Kozlowski also asserted that the EU was a "credible,predictable, and reliable partner" of India in all fields ofcooperation.
The EU Ambassador also praised the Narendra Modi-ledgovernment for becoming "more outspoken" on variousinternational issues such as Paris Climate Change Conferenceand the stability of Afghanistan.
The envoy later also fielded questions on various otherglobal issues, including the US-North Korea tension, Irannuclear deal and the proposed Comprehensive Convention onInternational Terrorism.
He said that the EU had designated the terror outfitHizbul Mujahideen as a terrorist organisation in 2005, muchbefore the US did, but not many know about it.
Kozlowski also pitched for enhancing flow of information.
On the US-North Korea issue, he said, "As far as the DPRK(Democratic People's Republic of Korea) issue is concerned, Ican only say, confrontation and military action is not asolution." PTI KND ASKASK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.