India, EU hopeful of investment protection pact before year-end
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said he was hopeful that India and the EU would sign an investment protection agreement before the end of the year, but added that deadlines are not as important as intent. Maros Sefcovic, the EU commissioner for trade and economic security, said the two sides shared the goal of “doing our best to get this done by the end of the year.”
“We are both engaged and wish to sign an investment protection agreement at an early date. The teams continue to discuss various issues,” Goyal said after the third meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Brussels. he said.
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“We are both very interested in increasing the flow of investment both to India and from India to the EU… we are doing our best to achieve this goal as well,” Sefcovic said. he said.
Goyal also said that both India and the EU are committed to eliminating dependency risks in certain critical areas.
“India-EU partnership is poised to reach higher heights today. Free trade agreement, security and defense partnership and mobility framework have been its major achievements this year,” said external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
On issues related to the EU’s steel measures, Goyal said these were known before the free agreement was signed. “The free trade agreement reflects a fair and balanced outcome covering a wide range of issues, including steel. When negotiating, compromises are made. Looking at the sensitivities of different countries, we managed to achieve a fairly balanced outcome, including on steel measures,” he said.
