India, EU to resume FTA talks on May 12, agree to speed up progress

India and the European Union (EU) have decided to accelerate efforts to advance the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with the next round scheduled to begin here on May 12, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce L Satya Srinivas said that the tenth round of talks focused on areas like market access offers in goods, services, investment and government procurement.

"Both sides have agreed to accelerate efforts to advance the negotiations," he told reporters here.

The 11th round is scheduled from May 12-16.

On the India-UK trade pact, he said both teams are working to resolve the pending issues.

Further, he said that negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between India and South American nation Chile was launched on April 1.

Chile is the fifth largest trading partner of India in the LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) region with bilateral trade in goods at USD 3.59 billion during April-February 2024-25.

With Peru, the Indian team concluded the seventh round of talks earlier this month.

This will be the first FTA of the country in the LAC region.