India-EU Trade Pact: After 12 Rounds Of Talks, Seven Of 23 Chapters Finalised; Next Round In September

India and the European Union have now settled seven of the 23 chapters in their ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with officials confirming that the last round of talks will be held in September, reported The Indian Express.

The last (twelfth) round of India-EU talks concluded last week in Brussels, according to Satya Srinivas, special secretary in the Department of Commerce.

"We have exchanged our offers on services and non-services… there were discussions on that. We also discussed key interests in market access related to goods as well… The next round of talks (will be held) in the first week of September," Srinivas was quoted as saying by IE.

Negotiators have recently closed two more chapters and narrowed differences over services, despite tensions from US tariff threats.

The deal, if finalised, would be India’s largest trade agreement to date.

However, EU Ambassador to India Hervé Delphin had earlier clarified that the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) remains outside these negotiations.

“I have come to discover that CBAM is one of the best-known acronyms in India. First, CBAM is not a trade measure. It is not part of trade and the FTA. It’s about compliance with our climate agenda to accelerate decarbonisation,” he said.

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