India, EU aim to finalise FTA by end of this year, says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that India and EU have set the goal of trying to complete the Free Trade Agreement by end this year and noted that the negotiators and the stakeholders are reacting to a global environment where the importance of doing this FTA has become much more.

Jaishankar, who is in France as part of his three-nation visit, said India also seeks to conclude a defence and security partnership with the European Union.

"We are putting so much focus on Europe because we can see a quantum jump into multipolarity. There's a realisation in Europe that a lot of its problems and solutions will have to be analysed and thought through by Europe itself. Today's Europe is more self-aware, self-reliant and strategically autonomous, and will want to look for partners who can work with Europe in that respect... That gives an additional impetus to India-Europe relations, which were evolutionary, but I predict a very sharp acceleration in that," he said

"In Brussels, we made strong progress in our Free Trade Agreement negotiations. We seek to conclude a defence and security partnership with the European Union. We are looking at a space agreement. We have individual agreements with the states of Europe on talent mobility. We are now trying to see if we can get across an understanding across the entire Union... There is a lot of discussion about connectivity because if you're going to do more business and we're all trying to de-risk and stabilise the global economy, connectivity is very much part of that conversation," he added.

He spoke about the progress in FTA negotiations.

"We have set the goal of trying to complete it by this year. I'm told that half the chapters are done, and for the remaining half, considerable progress has been made. Our trade ministers have met 3 times in the last 6 weeks. We will see another round of meetings by the end of this month. There is a certain urgency and energy that is different. The negotiators and the stakeholders are reacting to a global environment where the importance of doing this FTA has become much more," he added.

India and France have completed 25 years of strategic partnership. The bilateral relations with France are rooted in deep trust and commitment, and the two countries cooperate closely across all domains of strategic and contemporary relevance besides sharing similar outlook on many regional and global issues.