India-EU FTA likely to be ready by April: Daniele Smadja

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) is likely to be concluded by April, EU Ambassador Daniele Smadja said here yesterday.

The agreement will, however, not be signed before the next India-EU Summit to be held here as some technical details are still being worked out.

"The main agreement is expected to be firmed up by April... But we do not expect the agreement to be signed then. We will have to wait till the next Summit," Ms Smadja told journalists here.

Agreeing that there would have to be some "give and take" in the agreement, she said in an agreement both parties would have to tell something to their constituencies back home. She did not elaborate.

Both sides have some differences on the issue of life-saving drugs and geneticaly-modified crops.

She, however, said the FTA would provide a comfort level to both sides as it would cover temporary mobility of professionals and cross-border supply of services.

NNN