India-EU trade pact likely before year-end

India's FREE TRADE agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) could be concluded before the end-of-year deadline, and there is even the possibility of an interim deal, as few issues of divergence remain, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday.

- Mukesh Jagota

"There are not too many issues where we have divergence of opinions."

"We have both complementary economies. In most cases, what is of offensive interest to India does not hurt the EU economy; likewise, goods and services that Europe would like to provide to India only support our growth story," Goyal told reporters in Paris.

India and the EU had set a year-end target to conclude the FTA during their high-level talks in February.