General

India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on the 18th that India and the European Union have restarted free trade agreement negotiations, which had been stalled for nine years.

Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrowski announced the official resumption of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement at an event at EU headquarters on June 17 negotiation. India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the first round of negotiations between the two sides is scheduled to start in New Delhi on June 27.

For India, this will be one of the most important free trade agreements as the EU is its second largest trading partner after the US. Between 2021 and 2022, India’s merchandise trade with the EU hit a record high of $116.36 billion, a year-on-year increase of 43.5%. India's exports to the EU will grow by 57% to $65 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

India is currently the 10th largest trading partner of the EU, and an EU study before Brexit suggested that a trade deal with India would bring benefits worth $10 billion. Negotiations on a free trade agreement between India and the EU began in 2007, but they were shelved in 2013 due to differences over issues such as tariffs on cars and wine. In April this year, European Commission President von der Leyen visited India, and Indian President Narendra Modi also visited Europe in May, which accelerated discussions on free trade agreements and established a negotiating roadmap.