The issue of India and the European Union restarting negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement came up for discussion during German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday.
“What did happen today was a Prime Minister-Chancellor level discussion on merits of resuming the negotiations and taking them forward,” S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary, told the media after the conclusion of the third Intergovernmental Consultations between India and Germany.
Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe with German investments having crossed $8 billion last year, said Martin Ney, German Ambassador to India, last week.
The Foreign Secretary added that data security was one of the issues which came up for detailed discussions between the two leaders. Besides, the issue of the restrictions placed by the EU on the sale of about 700 drugs from India, a move which India views as unwarranted, was also discussed, Jaishankar said.
“It is our hope that this matter (dealing with Indian drugs exports to Europe) will be looked at fairly and sensibly. Hopefully it will not be an impediment to the free trade agreement,” the Foreign Secretary said.
Declining to give a time frame by when the agreement could be finalised, Jaishankar emphasised that Monday’s meeting was not a trade negotiation.
“The sticking points and details will come when negotiations resume. Today there was a broad review of the state of our relations including trade relations and the merits of resuming the negotiations on the free trade Agreement were assessed by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. It was kind of a big picture view of why we should go forward,” he said.