India, EU Aim to Seal FTA by Year-End

India and the European Union (EU) have made "good progress" on some aspects of the negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) that both sides want to conclude by the year-end, with US threats of tariffs strengthening the rationale for the deal, EU ambassador Hervé Delphin has said.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

During a visit to India in February with almost the entire EU College of Commissioners, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw their weight behind the ambitious goal of finalising the FTA by the end of 2025.

The negotiations for the trade deal originally began in 2007, were suspended in 2013, and then revived in 2022.

"India and the EU have made good progress in the recent round of talks in Brussels in March on some aspects," Delphin told a small group of journalists on Tuesday, referring to the 10th round of negotiations and also the first held since Von der Leyen's visit.