ISDS Case Map
India
Poor people in India and other developing countries may lose access to affordable generic drugs as part of free-trade negotiations between India and the European Union, a medical advocacy group said on Friday.
The Free Trade Agreement between India and Sri Lanka is 10 years old and a top trade economist says trade between the two South Asian neighbours have improved and that Sri Lanka should consider upgrading the agreement into a comprehensive economic partnership.
India has rejected the European Union's demand on including social clauses such as labour and environmental standards in the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), saying there are other forums to discuss these issues.
A proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and Indonesia has been put in cold storage as the Southeast Asian nation expressed its inability to resolve domestic opposition to such a pact. A joint study group set up by the two countries had strongly favoured a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement.
Delhi Network of Positive People protest the EU-India and all FTAs to MPs in India
The MoU will serve as the backbone for promoting a comprehensive investment policy between the two sides, both seeking out protection for their foreign investors and domestic industries.
The European Union expects to clinch a free trade pact with India by October, the EU's trade chief said Thursday, as the 27-member trading bloc pushes to secure new markets across Asia.
The European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht, is due to travel to Singapore to launch negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) and to Delhi "to inject new momentum into the ongoing FTA negotiations"
With agreement stalled on a number of issues, including India's demand for European countries to open up their borders to skilled Indian IT workers in return for European legal professionals to work in India, Britain is pushing for rapid conclusion of a long-delayed free trade agreement between India and the 27-nation Europe Union, saying it was holding up trade and jobs at both ends.
While India mulls another free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia and New Zealand, its FTAs with European Union and Japan remains shrouded in uncertainty with its decisions regarding intellectual property (IP) rights likely to impact not just India, but other developing South East Asian countries as well.
