India and EU conclude long-pending free trade agreement, says Commerce Secretary

India and the European Union have successfully concluded negotiations for a long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday, PTI reported.

Calling the agreement balanced and forward-looking from India’s perspective, Agrawal said the deal would deepen economic integration between India and the EU and give a boost to bilateral trade and investment.“Negotiations have been successfully concluded. The deal has been finalised,” he said.According to Agrawal, legal scrubbing of the FTA text is currently underway, with efforts focused on completing the remaining processes and signing the pact at the earliest.The agreement is expected to be signed later this year and could come into force early next year.