‘India, EU must seal FTA by year-end to deepen bilateral ties’

India and the European Union (EU) must deliver on a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of year to deepen their strategic partnership, and the Indian side must engage in earnest to ensure a mutually beneficial trade deal, EU ambassador Hervé Delphin said on Monday.

- Rezaul H Laskar

Delphin contended the 13th round of negotiations for the FTA this month was “a bit of a missed opportunity to make some breakthrough”. He said the two sides must deliver in negotiating a new India-EU strategic road map so it can be endorsed at the next summit in 2026. This, he said, will turn “words into action and ambition into reality”.

The envoy was speaking on the theme of “Navigating India-EU strategic ties” ahead of the 14th round of talks on the FTA in Brussels from October 6. India and the EU resumed negotiations for a trade deal in June 2022 after a hiatus of almost a decade, and leaders of the two sides have set a deadline for concluding the negotiations by the end of 2025.