India and the EU are continuing to hammer out the details of a trade agreement less than 72 hours before European leaders arrive in India for the 16th EU-India Summit. The Summit, scheduled for January 27, is centred around a ‘Free Trade’ Agreement (FTA) that has been in the works for more than two decades and is proving difficult to negotiate with “sensitivities” around agriculture, carbon border taxes, service delivery and non-tariff barriers.
EU on cusp of historic trade deal with India: Ursula von der Leyen
Other agreements on the agenda for next week are a new Defence and Security partnership, an agreement on information security and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a mobility framework.
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A joint statement will lay out a new strategic roadmap, outlined in the joint statement, setting the course of the India-EU partnership for the next five years. Deeper cooperation is expected to be announced across various dimensions, including climate change, supply chains and critical minerals, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well as cooperation at multilateral forums.
