India-European Union Trade agreement talks to resume in June

India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) will restart negotiations for their long-pending free trade agreement from June, a top official said on Wednesday.

Commerce Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said the EU team would visit India for talks immediately after the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is scheduled from June 12-15.

“The team is coming here for the first round… for restarting… Come June, we will start the negotiations,” he said.

The Commerce Secretary said sectors like textiles would get big benefits from this pact.

India’s textile products attract about 9-10 per cent customs duty in the EU and about 8-9 per cent in the UK.