With trade ties between India and the United States under strain following a series of tariff hikes, European Union negotiators are set to arrive in New Delhi this week to accelerate talks on a long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This would be the 13th round of talks. Sources told India Today Global that they would like to see conclusion of the deal by this year end. There are likely to be eleven high level visits to Brussels and New Delhi in the course of six months leading up to the India-EU Summit next year.
The high-level delegation, led by EU Trade Commissioner Maro efovi and Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen, will be leading a 30-member negotiating team. The Indian side of the delegation will be led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, accompanied by senior Indian officials to resolve key sticking points in the negotiations, including rules of origin, customs duties, and market access for some of the sensitive products. The EU understands the sensitivity of India when it comes to sugar, rice and dairy, said a source.
Officials on both sides have indicated that 11 of the 27 negotiation chapters have already been concluded, covering areas such as customs cooperation, small business support, and dispute resolution. However, substantial differences remain over tariffs on agricultural goods and standards for determining the origin of exports.
The Eleven chapters are:
Intellectual Property (IP)
Transparency
Goods regulatory practices
Mutual Administrative Assistance
SMEs
Sustainable food systems
Dispute settlement
Competition and subsidies
Digital trade
Anti-fraud clauses.
The 12th chapter is capital movement which is almost finalised said the source. The visit comes at a critical moment for India’s trade policy. Washington’s tariff actions have put additional pressure on New Delhi, pushing it to deepen its engagement with other major partners. The EU, which is India’s largest trading partner with goods trade worth over $135 billion in FY 2023–24, has emerged as a central focus in this strategy.
Brussels and New Delhi are aiming to clinch the FTA by the end of this year, setting the stage for the agreement to be endorsed at the India–EU summit early in 2026. In parallel, the EU is preparing to unveil a new political and strategic framework for its partnership with India, on September 17, coinciding with Prime Minister Modi’s 75th birthday.
Sources said that the High Representatives will present the vision for the policy document to the Council of Member States and then it will further be “presented as the political offer to India, to drive and negotiate the deliverables and decide on the Summit document.” India-EU Summit will be held early next year.
Diplomatic sources said the two commissioners’ visit will be followed by a series of other engagements, including meetings of EU envoys, parliamentary trade representatives, and delegations on security and counter-terrorism, underscoring the expanding scope of cooperation between the two sides.
Analysts view the current push as one of the most serious attempts in recent years to finalize the FTA, first launched in 2007 but stalled multiple times over disagreements on tariffs and market access. With geopolitical and economic factors adding urgency, officials believe the coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether both sides can bridge the remaining gaps.
This comes at a time of global economic volatility and therefore a source said that “there was greater need to exchange views of global issues – China, Russia, US”
On the issue of tariffs the source said, “We are not imposing. We are not in the game of extracting. We are about ‘positive sum game’. Tariff wars are reshuffling the fame because it is risking it for everyone.”
The European Union is determined to conclude the FTA with India to ensure stabilisation. This relationship is not determined by what happens between India and others. The two sides are committed to the relationship, said the source.
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