(MENAFN- Live Mint) New Delhi: India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said there was a substantial headway on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), and several key differences narrowed after a series of“intense but very productive” engagements in Brussels.

Goyal met Maros Sefcovic, EU commissioner for trade and economic security, as both sides sought to accelerate work on the long-pending pact aimed at deepening trade, investment and employment ties.

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“The talks have significantly reduced our outstanding issues and allowed us to create the framework that will help deliver a win-win for our economies,” Goyal said in a statement on social media platform X, adding that the discussions have laid the foundation for a robust and balanced agreement to support businesses of both sides.

The minister was in Brussels for a two-day visit from 27 October to fast-track the conclusion of a comprehensive trade agreement.

EU team to visit india

Goyal said the EU's negotiating team will visit India next week to carry forward the dialogue.

Sefcovic said the talks were“very intensive but also very constructive” and had created a positive momentum in advancing the India-EU free trade agreement. "We share a common objective, to deliver on the mandate given to us by President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi,” he said.

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The EU commissioner said the negotiations had yielded“substantial progress across a number of areas” with both delegations providing concrete guidance to their teams. A high-level EU delegation led by the director-general will travel to New Delhi next week to continue technical discussions“beyond the area of tariffs,” he added.

For strategic direction

Goyal's visit to Brussels was aimed at providing strategic direction and political impetus to the trade deal talks following the momentum generated by the 14th round of negotiations held earlier this month.

On 16 October, Mint reported that the central government had directed its negotiating team, led by special secretary L. Satya Srinivas, to resolve the pending issues in the FTA talks with the EU before returning to New Delhi, underscoring its push to conclude the deal by the year-end.

At the heart of the dispute lies the EU's demand for tighter origin norms to ensure third-country goods don't enter the bloc through India, particularly in sensitive categories such as agricultural products, spirits, wines, and other products with geographical indication status, prized for their cultural and commercial value.

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Another major sticking point between New Delhi and Brussels is the mutual acceptance of agricultural products.“We have significantly reduced the outstanding issues between the EU and India, and I must thank both teams for the significant progress made in the last three days,” Goyal said.

“I believe the ongoing India-EU FTA negotiations have given us an opportunity to really create the framework which will help us in the long run, bring our two economies closer together, and integrate them into a relationship which will be a win-win for the European Union and India,” he added.

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