Discussions on for Trade Pacts with EU, US: Commerce Secy

Negotiations for proposed trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the US are going on, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday.

He said that the free trade agreements (FTAs) which India is doing are one of the key enablers to promote global capability centres (GCCs) in the country.

"...FTA with the UK was just announced (on May 6). with EU, which is going on, with the US, discussions are on," Barthwal said here at CII GCC Business Summit here.

India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They are targeting to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this year.

Similarly, India and the EU are also negotiating FTA.

In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications (GIs) after a gap of over eight years.

It stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the markets.

India and the EU are targeting to conclude the free trade deal by the end of this year.

The secretary also said that today's agreements are different from the traditional FTAs, which were confined to traditional trade.

The new pacts are a more complex set of agreements which include services also, he said.

Now there is also an institutional mechanism in these pacts to look at issues like harmonsing regulations and standards; and resolving disputes, if any arises.

And these are important facets of GCCs, he said, adding modern FTAs will lead to the innovation corridor, which will facilitate GCCs in India.

The new trade agreements, Barthwal said, are addressing a whole gamut of issues, which could be one of the reasons why negotiations of these pacts take time to conclude.

He added that in the FTA with the UK, there is a chapter on innovation, which was not the case earlier.