India, European Union conclude first round of negotiations for India-EU Trade and Investment Agreements
India and the European Union concluded the first round of negotiations for India-EU Trade and Investment Agreements in New Delhi last evening. The week-long negotiations were held in a hybrid fashion.
During this round, 52 technical sessions covering 18 policy areas of the free trade agreement and seven sessions on Investment Protection and Geographical Indicators were held. The second round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in September next year in Brussels. The negotiations were launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and European Commission’s Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels last month.
India’s bilateral trade with European Union amounted to over 116 billion dollars in 2021-22. Despite the global disruptions, bilateral trade achieved impressive annual growth of more than 43 per cent in 2021-22.
Currently, European Union is India’s second-largest trading partner after US, and the second-largest destination for Indian exports. The trade agreement with European Union will help India further expand and diversify its exports of goods and services.
