New Delhi: Negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and India are in their final stages and should be concluded soon, as there appear to be no major sticking points, visiting Dutch foreign affairs minister David Van Weel said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in the national capital, Van Weel said that he discussed the ongoing EU-India trade talks in his meetings with Indian ministers, and expressed hope that the two sides would reach an agreement soon. He departed on Friday after a three-day, maiden visit to India.
The Dutch minister held meetings with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar as well as national security adviser Ajit Doval.
“There's a lot of areas in which we want to intensify our cooperation and, of course, this is all meant to lead to a more strategic partnership that we strive for, with India. We also discussed not only the Netherlands-India cooperation but also the EU-India cooperation...The EU-India free trade agreement is in the final stages of negotiation and I think from both sides...we have hoped that these negotiations will come to a fruitful conclusion in short term," he said.
The minister, however, cautioned that trade negotiations are always “very complicated” and often go down to the wire.
"These are always very complicated negotiations that always carry on until the last moment and then the agreement is reached. So as far as I know, there are no big sticking points, why they shouldn't be able to be concluded. And hopefully that will happen in the very near future," he added.
This assumes significance as bilateral trade with the European Union touched around $136.5 billion in 2024-25, making it one of India’s largest trading partners. During this period, India exported goods worth about $75.8 billion, while imports stood at $60.7 billion.
Earlier, Mint reported on 17 December that India had approached the World Trade Organization (WTO) seeking consultations with the EU after the bloc proposed tariffs and quotas on ferro-alloy imports, deepening concerns over global trade uncertainty at a time when the two sides are negotiating a free-trade agreement.
India has a substantial trade interest in the products concerned, and has invoked provisions of the Agreement on Safeguards to seek consultations with the EU, according to a WTO document reviewed by Mint.
The EU issued a notification last month, proposing a safeguard duty after claiming serious injury or threat to its domestic ferro-alloy industry due to rising imports.
A statement from India's ministry of external affairs (MEA) released on Friday after the meeting between Van Weel with Jaishankar said that both sides underscored trade and economic ties as one of the key pillars of the India-Netherlands partnership.
They noted that the decision taken earlier this year to establish a Joint Trade and Investment Committee would help deepen cooperation, address trade facilitation issues and promote bilateral investments.
"Recalling the rich maritime history of India and the Netherlands, the Ministers welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal, Gujarat. They also discussed further strengthening ongoing cooperation in the maritime and shipping sectors, particularly in areas of green shipping, port development and shipbuilding," the statement added.
Van Weel added that his discussions with the top government functionaries in India included talks on defence, semiconductors and new-age technologies.
Both the countries signed a letter of intent on defence cooperation, which would provide an enabling framework to further strengthen defence and security cooperation between the two countries.
The MEA statement said: "The ministers welcomed the endeavour of both sides to expand the partnership into new areas of emerging technologies including semiconductors, defence, digital, AI, renewable energy, green hydrogen, education and mobility, to give it a more strategic direction. In this context, they took note of the various MoUs/ Agreements concluded during the year," he said.
Both the countries have already signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on partnership on semiconductors and related emerging technologies and also on green hydrogen earlier this year.
Meanwhile, speaking on the Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing negotiations for a peace deal, the Dutch minister said: “For us, this is an existential security issue and Ukraine cannot lose this war. That will be detrimental to the system that we've built with regards to respecting territorial sovereignty.”
Noting that this is an issue of utmost importance for the Netherlands and the European Union, he added that the war and related concerns of EU countries were discussed during his deliberations in India.
“So, for us this is a security issue of the utmost importance, so we discussed that and I conveyed that message also to my Indian counterparts. I also said that we are hopeful that at least negotiations are now ongoing to, hopefully, make a lasting and durable end to this conflict. I've also asked my counterparts to use their contacts with Russia to also, hopefully, convey to them the message to come to the negotiation table and hopefully we can find a resolution on this.”
India and the Netherlands also discussed key developments in Indo-Pacific, Ukraine, South Asia, West Asia, and other regional and global issues of shared interest, the MEA's statement said. It added that the Dutch foreign minister conveyed condolences to the victims of the recent terror incident in Delhi, and that both sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, emphasizing the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat it in a comprehensive and sustained manner.
