ISDS Case Map
India
India and the European Union are unlikely to ink a free trade pact in the next three to four years, a Belgium-based independent think tank, the European Centre for International Political Economy, has said. Echoing similar views, an MEP said, "It all depends on whether the Indian Parliament gets to pass the Insurance Bill in the Winter Session."
India's finance ministry will take over the negotiation of all future investment pacts, including those part of comprehensive trade deals, it has told the commerce department, having taken strong exception to the latter unilaterally finalising the text for the India-Asean Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, said two government officials aware of the development.
Despite the adverse impact on local industries, the Government has allowed tariff-free imports on ten categories of Indian goods, which had hitherto remained in the negative list under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Daily Mirror learns.
Belgium has demanded greater access to public procurement market for large-scale contracts under the proposed India-EU free trade agreement (FTA), whose fate already hangs in balance. The country also stressed on further tariff reduction on goods by India.
The European Union has blamed India for the delay in conclusion of the free trade agreement being negotiated by the two for the last six years.
India's finance ministry is pushing for a review of the model text for free trade agreements after recent misuse of bilateral pacts exposed many loopholes in the pacts India has entered into with its trading partners.
The idea of a Mekong-India Economic Corridor -- a network of land and sea infrastructure connecting India, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- is gaining traction with the upcoming signing of the India-ASEAN services and investment deal.
No assurance was given by the Pakistan government on Tuesday for granting India the Most Favoured Nation trade status, almost a year after it missed the deadline to do so in order to normalise bilateral trading relations.
After signing 15 regional and bilateral free trade agreements, India's exports to these partner countries either stagnated or registered minimal growth, according to a study by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
Thailand and India are scheduled to sign their long-awaited comprehensive free-trade agreement (FTA) at the World Trade Organisation meeting next month after reaching an agreement on service-sector liberalisation.
