FTA talks with EU stuck due to bloc’s reluctance: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday mentioned negotiations for a free commerce settlement between India and the European Union had been caught for the final six years as a consequence of reluctance of the grouping.

The talks for the FTA have been stalled since May 2013 when either side did not bridge substantial gaps on essential points, together with on knowledge safety standing for the IT sector. Asked throughout a web-based interactive session whether or not the talks had been stalled as a consequence of India’s reservations towards FTAs, Jaishankar vehemently dispelled it and mentioned: “It is not a question of principle. India has nothing in principle against free trade agreements or preferential trade agreements.”  

Launched in June 2007, negotiations for the proposed settlement have witnessed many hurdles as either side have main variations on essential points.

Giving a run down of the developments regarding the proposed FTA, Jaishankar mentioned on the sixth Edition of MED dialogue that India was negotiating on it with the European Union until 2013 however the deal couldn’t be closed.  

“There was a change of government in 2014. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered to the EU that they would like to reopen and continue those negotiations. In fact, it was the EU which took the stance from 2014 that look, right now we have other priorities, we do not know whether we are ready.”

“So for the last six years, and I say this as someone who sat in the room, heard my own leaders say this, heard the responses from the EU leadership. The reluctance to engage from 2014, this I can testify personally, is not from the Indian side. It is from the EU side, even today,” he added.

The exterior affairs minister mentioned he had visited Brussels twice within the final one 12 months and introduced up the difficulty with the involved commissioner.

“In the last one year, I have been to Brussels twice, and brought up the subject with the commissioner mandated to deal with us. And that was pretty much the answer I got which was that we need to think this through, we are not sure we want to do this at this time,” he added.

Asked about India pulling out of the  Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) final 12 months, he mentioned it needed to take the choice as its issues weren’t addressed.

“The idea that there would have been great benefits waiting for us at the end of the rainbow, sorry I do not buy that,” mentioned Jaishankar about observations that India would lose out for pulling out of the RCEP.

The RCEP deal sealed final month comprised 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and 5 of the bloc’s dialogue companions – China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Asked about India’s relations with the US, Jaishankar mentioned it’s on an upswing as a result of there’s a structural convergence between the 2 nations.

“I am very confident that India-US relations will continue to do well,” he mentioned.