Talks for the much-awaited trade and economic partnership agreement that India and Switzerland together with other EFTA States have been negotiating should be resumed quickly, Swiss Ambassador to India Linus von Castelmur has said.

Negotiations -- which have been going in for the last seven years -- need to be resumed as quickly as possible now that the new Indian Government has taken over, Castelmur said at an Assocham event in the capital on Wednesday.

"The negotiations should be resumed with the principle that what was agreed is agreed,'' he said.

Additional impetus

An early conclusion of this trade pact will give an additional impetus to Swiss exports and also further boost Indian exports to Switzerland.

"Unfortunately and despite the determination on both sides to conclude before the elections, this did not materialise. I can assure you that progress was made and the gap could be narrowed substantially in various areas, but it proved too optimistic to cross the finishing line already," he said stressing the need to resume negotiations quickly.

'Double whammy'

Castelmur also noted that Swiss exporters were in the last two years hit by a "double whammy" of a strong Swiss franc and a weak Indian rupee.

"After having decreased 10 per cent in 2012 and 24 per cent in 2013, Swiss exports to India lost a further 25 per cent in the first half of 2014. This is a considerable setback," he said,

A thriving Indian economy with robust growth and a strong and stable rupee is therefore very much in the interest of Swiss exporters and investors into India, he said.

srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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