Brussels, Oslo, London: Piyush Goyal's Europe Visit To Fast-Track EU, UK, EFTA Trade Deals

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is likely to visit London, Oslo and Brussels next week, in a bid to fast-track the three proposed free trade agreements with the respective regions.

Goyal's London visit will revolve around the progress made for the India-UK free trade agreement, which is currently at its final stages with no new rounds for negotiations planned so far. Fourteen rounds have been completed since talks resumed in January 2022.

Oslo is crucial since India and four-nation European bloc, EFTA, are set to operationalise a trade deal — Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement — later this year. EFTA stands for European Free Trade Association, whose members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds will also be allowed to enter India at lower or zero duties under the pact.

Brussels is the hub for the India-EU FTA talks. India and the 27-nation bloc are exploring a possibility of discussing an early harvest agreement before going for a comprehensive pact.

"We're discussing actively with EU whether there can be early harvest or first tranche of the deal. If there are some non-core issues that will take time, it's best to focus on core issues first...we'll have meetings in mid-May," Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters.

India and the EU entered a 'Strategic Partnership- A Roadmap to 2025' back in 2004. The two have also been in trade pact negotiations since 2007, with the last round of talks taking place in June 2022.

The EU is India's largest trading partner in goods. Bilateral trade in goods with the EU stood at $135 billion in fiscal 2024, with exports to EU at $76 billion and imports at $59 billion.

The trip to these three strategically important European cities will mark a significant step in India's outreach to crucial trading partners in an turbulent trade environment.