India – EU Joint Statement
On 28th June 2007, India and the EU began negotiations on a
broad-based bilateral trade and investment agreement in Brussels, Belgium.
These negotiations are pursuant to the commitment made by
political leaders at the India-EU Summit held in Helsinki on 13 October 2006 to
move towards negotiations of a broad-based trade and investment agreement. There
has already been significant preparatory work. The India-EU High Level Trade
Group has been preparing the ground for these negotiations since October 2005
and its report will form the basis for further deliberation.
India and the EU expect to promote bilateral trade by
removing barriers to trade in goods and services and investment across all
sectors of the economy. Both parties believe that a comprehensive and ambitious
agreement that is consistent with WTO rules and principles would open new
markets and would expand opportunities for Indian and EU businesses.
India and the EU are important trading partners and committed
proponents of the multilateral system. Both reiterated their belief in the
primacy of the multilateral trading system and reaffirmed their commitment to
the DDA round of negotiations
To achieve this objective eight rounds of negotiations have
been alternately held at Brussels and New Delhi respectively. The 9th Round of
negotiations is scheduled to be held during 28-30th April, 2010
Trade
