India, EU aim to conclude FTA negotiations by end of this year

• The European Union and India held the 11th India-EU Foreign Policy and Security Consultations and the 6th Strategic Partnership Review Meeting in Brussels.

• Both sides reaffirmed the shared ambition to conclude negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of this year and to accelerate negotiations on the Investment Protection Agreement and the Agreement on Geographical Indications. 

• The deadline for concluding the trade deal, that would be the largest of its kind globally, came over 17 years after the two sides first began negotiations for it. The talks for the pact was relaunched in June 2022 after they were suspended in 2013.

• Both sides underlined the importance of cooperation at the multilateral level and of continued dialogue on economic issues, including on supply chain diversification.

• India and the EU also noted the progress in the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) and looked forward to the next TTC Ministerial Meeting in Brussels in 2026.

India-EU trade relations

• The European Union is India’s second-largest trading partner after China, accounting for trade in goods worth €120 billion in 2024, or 11.5 per cent of India's total trade. 

• India is the EU’s ninth largest trading partner, accounting for 2.4 per cent of the EU’s total trade in goods in 2024, well behind the USA (17.3 per cent), China (14.6 per cent) or the UK (10.1 per cent). 

• Trade in goods between the EU and India has increased by almost 90 per cent in the last decade.

• The EU’s imports from India comprise mainly machinery and appliances, chemicals, base metals, mineral products, and textiles. 

• The EU's main exports to India consist of machinery and appliances, transport equipment, and chemicals.

• Trade in services amounted to €59.7 billion in 2023.

• The EU’s share of foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in India reached €140.1 billion in 2023, up from €82.3 billion in 2019, making the EU a leading foreign investor in India.