New Delhi [India], September 3 : German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has reaffirmed his country's commitment to finalising the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union as soon as possible.
During a delegation-level meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Wadephul stated that Germany is fully supportive of the agreement and will utilise its influence with the European Commission to push it forward.
"Germany is in full support of carrying this Agreement, negotiated as soon as possible," Wadephul said. "We are a free trade nation...the EU is working on (the Agreement with) India, that's the most important to us. I hope really that we can be successful." He added that Germany will utilise all its arguments with the Commission to advance the FTA and enhance relations between their countries and the EU and India.
"You can be assured that we will use all arguments we have with the Commission to put this forward and to reach a level between our countries and between the EU and India on this," he added.
On Tuesday, Wadephul spent a day in Bangalore, where he was impressed by the number of students learning German. "For me, it was really interesting to spend a whole day in Bangalore to see what we are really doing already together, economically and culturally," he said. "That was really astonishing for me to see how many students are learning German, and that shows us that the potential is really high for our countries."
Earlier in the day, Wadephul arrived in New Delhi following his engagement in Bengaluru as part of his two-day official visit to the country.
The German Foreign Minister met with Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, which the German Ambassador to India, Phillip Ackermann, described as a productive discussion on strengthening trade, investment & innovation ties.
"German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul meeting with Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal. Productive discussions on strengthening trade, investment & innovation ties," Ackermann said in a post on X.
Earlier, Piyush Goyal said that Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the European Union are in an advanced stage, as the two sides are making significant progress.
Speaking to the reporters in the national capital, Goyal said, "We have reached a very advanced stage in our FTA with the European Union. The Commerce Secretary, as we speak, is in a meeting in Brussels with his counterpart, the DG of the EU. Their team is coming down later this week and will be in active negotiation with us. Minister of Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic (European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security) is coming down on the 12th of this month, and we are making very active and significant progress."
The FTA negotiations between the two sides are expected to conclude in 2025. India last month stated that the two sides engaged in a forward-looking and substantive dialogue to address global trade challenges and reaffirmed their shared resolve to conclude the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2025.
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