Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday that a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) could be sealed in a month or two, and the pact, coupled with other similar engagements, will insulate India from the geopolitical changes happening in the rest of the world.
“I am not very concerned about what is happening in the world. I believe it will open up new vistas of opportunities for India,” the minister said at the 18th Swissmem Industry Day event in Bern, Switzerland.
India and the EU have been negotiating the FTA since 2022. India inked an FTA with the UK last month and signed a similar pact with the four-member European Free Trade Association (EFTA) last year. With the EU trade deal India would secure preferential access for its exports to the whole of Europe.
The minister also said India is having robust discussions with the US for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). As the minister spoke, a US delegation led by the assistant US trade representative was wrapping up seven-day negotiations on the interim tranche of the BTA in New Delhi.
Citing India’s trade agreements with Australia and some West Asian countries as well as ongoing negotiations with New Zealand, Peru and Chile, the minister said, “India is today coming out of the shadows. In this situation any turbulence in the rest of the world will hurt India less than it will hurt the rest of the world because we have a big runway of growth ahead of us.”
Goyal said India provides an opportunity that will help the rest of the world in their future plans. “This geopolitical situation, to me, is only going to be a huge opportunity for India to leverage,” he said.
Addressing the gathering, the minister also offered to set up Swiss enclaves in India that can provide industrial and social infrastructure to Swiss companies to set up base and operate from.
The minister has been making similar offers to other countries as the government goes on the overdrive to populate the 12 industrial smart cities that are coming up all over India and the 100 industrial parks of up to 500 acres that will come up around cities along industrial corridors.