EU-India ties: Jaishankar hopeful FTA will be concluded soon; both nations eye green hydrogen cooperation

NEW DELHI: India would like to see its ongoing negotiations with the European Union for a free trade agreement (FTA) to reach a "decisive conclusion" soon, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, while also highlighting that both sides are exploring cooperation in the green hydrogen sector.

Jaishankar’s remarks come at a joint media briefing after holding wide-ranging talks with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul.


The discussions, he said, focused on strengthening ties in the areas of economy, climate change, defence, and technology.

We appreciate Germany's aim to double trade with India, Jaishankar said, while also thanking Berlin for addressing export control issues. He further welcomed Germany’s interest in collaborating with India in the semiconductor sector.

India and Germany are also exploring cooperation in the green hydrogen sector, he added.

According to the external affairs minister, Wadephul assured him that Germany would put its "full weight" behind the India-EU free trade pact. India's relationship with Germany is enormously important and it is growing significantly, he noted.

Further in terms of economic ties, India and Germany recorded a two-way trade of nearly EUR 50 billion last year.

Highlighting the momentum, Jaishankar said, "Our two-way trade last year was almost 50 billion euros. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, in one of his interviews, said that he was very confident that we would be doubling our trade. Let me assure him that India fully reciprocates that sentiment. It looks forward to working with the German government."

"I want to reiterate that we remain fully committed to continuously improving the ease of doing business in this country," he said, adding that any concerns from German companies would be given special attention.

The remarks came as India and the EU continue talks on the long-pending FTA, which aims to boost trade and investment between the two sides.

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