A senior delegation of negotiators from the European Union concluded a week-long visit to New Delhi on Friday, after intensive discussions and negotiations with their Indian counterparts on the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement. The meetings, which were held between November 3 and 7, aimed to advance the negotiations towards a “comprehensive, balanced, and mutually beneficial” trade agreement, said a release from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

The deliberations covered a wide variety of areas of the agreement, including goods and services, investment, sustainable development, rules of origin, and technical barriers to trade. As part of the negotiations, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal held meetings with Sabine Weyand, director-general for trade at the European Commission, for a detailed, two-day stocktake session on November 5 and 6. The discussions were centred around the review of progress across negotiating tracks and identifying key outstanding issues.

Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to expedite their efforts towards a balanced agreement. Agarwal reaffirmed India’s commitment to achieving an outcome that promotes economic growth and development while ensuring a fair and balanced distribution of benefits. He also emphasised the need for clarity and predictability in the implementation of emerging EU regulatory measures, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the proposed new steel regulation.

Both sides noted with satisfaction the substantive progress made across several negotiating areas and agreed to sustain the positive momentum. The discussions helped narrow divergences, and a common understanding was reached on many issues. The importance of continued technical-level engagement in the coming weeks was underscored to bridge remaining gaps and work towards the shared objective of concluding the India–EU FTA negotiations at the earliest.

The negotiations and stocktake meetings reflected the strong commitment on both sides to deepen the India–EU partnership and finalise an ambitious, forward-looking agreement that fosters resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth, said the release.

During his recent visit to Brussels, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said he had several interactions on outstanding issues related to the ongoing India-EU FTA negotiations with businesses from Europe, and that India was working towards a fair, equitable and balanced free trade agreement with the EU.

“If I were to summarise the visit, first, we have made significant progress in this three-day discussion. We have agreed to close 10 out of 20 chapters. Another 4 or 5 chapters have, in principle, been broadly decided. We are moving towards convergence so that when their team visits next week, we should be in a position to make significant and substantial progress towards closure,” Goyal had said at a press conference after his visit.