The Prime Minister's Trade and Economic Relations Committee will review the India-Europian Union draft treaty on free trade agreement in New Delhi tomorrow. The Chief negotiators of India and Europian Union concluded their two day discussions today to finalise the draft ahead of Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar's visit to Brussels, later this week. He will discuss various provisions in the treaty with his counterpart.Official sources says, key issues like opening of markets in auto and auto components, wines and spirits, and intellectual property rights and services were discussed in the two day meeting. The European Union wants India to open its services sector including foreign direct investment in retail, banking and other financial services. While the European Union wants India to eliminate or drastically reduce tariff on completely built units and completely knocked down units in passenger cars, the Indian negotiators are resisting the demand to protect the domestic industry. AIR correspondent reports, the two sides have agreed on four of the 12 key areas which have been in the negotiations since June 2007 for Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement, aimed at freeing vast markets of about two billion people to mutual advantage.
News On AIR | April 5, 2011 7:08 PM