NEW DELHI: India expects its proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) to be a ‘game-changer’ and is looking forward to a mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process for the pact, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.
“We expect the India-EU FTA to be a game-changer for the India-EU relationship. We look forward to a mutually beneficial, mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process within a reasonably short planned timeline,” Dr Jaishankar said while addressing the India EU Business and Sustainability Conclave.
EU and India can strengthen each other’s strategic autonomy by reducing dependencies, cooperating on critical technologies and ensuring supply-chain restructuring.
Foreign ministers of Denmark and the Czech Republic Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Jan Lipavský participated.
In June last year, India and the European Union restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement after a gap of over eight years. Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed agreement have witnessed many hurdles as both sides had major differences on crucial issues.
“When it comes to green transition, clean energy is key to the partnership,” Jaishankar said adding that the conclave included the three pillars representing the three working groups announced within the India-EU Trade and Technology Council — trade, green transition and digital partnership.
Dr Jaishankar also added that India is expected to be the only major economy to keep growing in the foreseeable future. Danish FM Rasmussen echoed his thoughts saying that he was impressed by the nation’s green transition progress since 2019.