Substantial differences remain between India & EU on negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement. It remains unclear whether agriculture or which parts of this sector will be included in the FTA.
The European Union is India’s single-largest trading partner when exports and imports with all 27 member-states are calculated. The deal has been almost two decades in the making.
India and Russia, as a part of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), are set to hold the 2nd round of negotiations on a trade deal next month after the Union Budget.
It’s India’s 3rd FTA with a Five-Eyes alliance member in the last 4 years. It is also the 3rd trade deal announced by New Delhi this year, after agreements with the UK & Oman.
Deal expected to be operational within 3 months and allow Indian importers to ‘replace’ imports from Turkey and source ‘better-priced’ blocks from Oman, Minister Piyush Goyal said.
Apart from FTA, a number of key agreements are expected in sectors such as trade, investment, energy, defence, technology, agriculture, culture & people-to-people ties.
While the rest of the world has converged on a model—technical judgement inside the institution, as a permanent organisational property—India remains a conspicuous and costly outlier.
The shipment earlier bound for Gujarat’s Vadinar has changed course amid payment concerns; could still reach India if issues are resolved, according to Kpler.
INS Arihant was first vessel under SSBN project and was quietly commissioned in 2016. The second indigenous SSBN, INS Arighat, was commissioned in August 2024.
It’s easy to understand why the government can’t speak the hard truth. When this war ends, as all wars do, India’s interests will lie with both the winner and the loser.
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