European Union (EU) companies operating in India want New Delhi to streamline or remove non-tariff barriers such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs), complex Customs procedures; simplify labelling, testing, and import procedures; and facilitate cross-border digital transactions without data localisation constraints. These are results of a Business Sentiment Survey, 2025 conducted by the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) ahead of resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between both the sides scheduled to be concluded by year-end.
'Our endeavour will be that we identify these products, put them in the public domain so that the manufacturers can look at them and give a boost to Make in India.'
Rubio voiced "appreciation" for New Delhi's continued engagement on bilateral issues, including trade, defence and energy.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday expressed hope that India will conclude the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US by the fall or November this year. He said that "a little bit" of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
India is aiming to become a global hub for green hydrogen exports, eyeing nearly 10 per cent of the worldwide demand by 2030, Union Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said on Tuesday. Addressing FICCI Green Hydrogen Summit 2025, the minister said 8.62 lakh tonne annual hydrogen production capacity has been awarded to 19 companies.
Analysts believe Tesla will first focus on building the Model Y brand before expanding -- both in terms of volume and models.
In his media statement following talks with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic, Modi said both leaders agree that "terrorism is an enemy of humanity" and is inimical to forces that believe in democracy.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that India has zero tolerance for terrorism and will never give in to nuclear blackmail, emphasizing that New Delhi will deal with Pakistan purely bilaterally. He made these remarks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart in Berlin, where he also highlighted the importance of the strategic partnership between India and Germany, emphasizing the need for a free trade agreement between the two nations.
India finalised a free trade agreement with the UK, its 16th so far as the country aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments. The other regions and countries with which India has signed such agreements include the four-nation European bloc EFTA, Japan, Korea and Australia.
India and Belgium on Monday explored potential defence engagements in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the maritime domain, and discussed ways to strengthen defence industrial cooperation.
'As the global economy undergoes significant transformations in 2025, India's ability to navigate the complexities of trade wars, financial realignments, and emerging blocs will be pivotal,' explain Harsh V Pant and Soumya Bhowmik.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
The leaders also noted the "negative impacts" of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least-developed countries.
After a fresh round of human rights dialogue, India and the European Union on Friday concurred on the importance of safeguarding freedom, independence and diversity of civil society actors, including human rights defenders and journalists.
The India-European Union summit which was slated to be held later this month will now be rescheduled in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.
India may have to abide by a series of international standards and regulatory practices in the healthcare sector, if it agrees to some proposals that are part of the ongoing India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
As part of their joint efforts to fight terrorism, India and the European Union today decided to work towards blocking access to terrorist financing and to cooperate in the fight against money-laundering
The agreement provides for extensive cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector including in research and development for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, they said.
The European Union on Wednesday said there would not be any dialogue with India on the World Trade Organisation issues when their political heads meet at the India-EU summit this weekend, even though trade issues will figure in the summit.
India and European Union will discuss issues of mutual interest during the first joint industrial energy conference in New Delhi next month.
Ahead of his much-anticipated visit to conflict-torn Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield and it is ready to extend all possible cooperation for the restoration of peace and stability in the region.
"We expect to host the India-EU summit under the UK presidency in New Delhi and welcome the British Prime Minister to our country later this year," External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said.
According to a source on the Indian side, New Delhi and Brussels have agreed to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of all tradable goods. But, India wants the EU to up their offer to include 95 percent of goods, while the EU wants India to offer a slash in tariffs on 98 percent of goods.
India's merchandise exports dipped marginally in March to $41.69 billion, and by 3.11 per cent during the last fiscal year to $437.06 billion mainly due to continued geopolitical turmoil, and depressed global trade. Imports, too, declined in March as well during the entire 2023-24. Trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, narrowed 17.74 per cent in March to $15.6 billion and came down 9.33 per cent to $240.17 billion in FY24.
Days ahead of India-EU annual summit, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday said a few ends are yet to be stitched for concluding the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides.
In reflection of their growing congruence in areas of defence and security, the two sides, following the Modi-Mitsotakis talks, agreed to set up an institutional dialogue at the level of national security advisors, and boost defence industrial cooperation.
India clearly told the EU it would 'not accept' any further concession, as far as the automobile sector was concerned.
Stating the volume of trade between India and Finland is "not big enough", Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb today said it would increase only after signing of the much-talked about free trade agreement between India and European Union.
Under the FTA in the Services sector, India wants the EU to ensure free mobility of professionals without restrictions such as experience whereas the EU wants greater commitment by India to allow foreign investment in services such as retail, legal and postal.
The two leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis and several regional and global issues including increasing trade relations and cooperation in the field of mitigating the impact of climate change during their bilateral talks at the Danish Prime Minister's official residence in Mareinborg near Copenhagen.
A high-level meeting between the two sides will be held in New Delhi from Monday on the comprehensive economic agreement which aims at eliminating trade barriers to enhance commerce between India and the EU.
The European Union may back off from its insistence on including non-trade issues like human rights in the proposed free trade pact with India.
The talks are being held in Brussels between high-level delegations from India and EU, led by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai and Director General of European Commission Davis O'Sullivan.
The talks between the two leaders covered the entire gamut of bilateral ties as well as key regional and global issues, including the Ukraine conflict.
While the 27-nation bloc is pressing hard for a significant duty cut in automobile sector in the proposed Broad based Trade and Investment Agreement, Indian industry is strongly opposed to such a move.
So far 15 rounds of negotiations have been held.
During the talks, both sides failed to reach on a conclusion and has agreed to meet again in June.
India was apprehensive because EU was pushing for data exclusivity provisions that would have affected domestic pharma companies.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances