‘FTA talks with EU & New Zealand in last leg’

New Delhi: India’s FTA talks with the EU and New Zealand are in the final stages and are expected to be concluded soon, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. An Indian team is in the UK to discuss the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) agreement, he added.

“We hope to complete it soon so that both (DCC and FTA) can be launched together,” he told reporters here. India and the UK have signed the trade pact, but it has not been implemented as it requires approval from the UK parliament.

On negotiations with the EU, Agrawal said talks are in the last phase. “But the last phase is always hard,” he pointed out.

He added that negotiations for a trade pact with New Zealand are also in the last phase. “We hope that we will achieve closure in the shortest possible time,” Agrawal said, adding that the last phase can be time-consuming.

Further, he said negotiations with two South American countries - Peru and Chile - are also moving. With Peru, “progress is there and we hope to see progress in this”, he said, adding that negotiations with Chile are also moving at a good pace and the fourth round of talks is scheduled in December here. PTI