Amid a global upheaval, the conclusion of India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU spells relief. Once it’s in force, this “mother of all deals” will mutually ease market access across a wide range of goods and service categories, with high tariff barriers left in place only for sensitive stuff on either side.
India’s calibrated opening up of highly shielded sectors like automobiles and spirits is noteworthy. So is the breadth of the pact, which covers talent maximization and high-tech cooperation too.
On Europe’s carbon border levy, though, New Delhi seems to have got just a promise of flexibility in case other EU partners are granted relief. This may feel like a letdown, but carbon compression is a climate goal for us anyway. Plus, EU concessions elsewhere seem cheer-worthy, even if the extent to which the bloc will ease its non-tariff barriers is unclear.
On the whole, it’s a high-potential FTA that brightens our export prospects in a world of trade ties that look more like a “spaghetti bowl” than ever. While India has stayed off new trade blocs in the East, win-win relations with major market economies should serve us well. With an EU deal struck, could one with the US be next?