Piyush Goyal heads to Brussels for India-EU FTA talks

NEW DELHI: Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels this week to provide “strategic guidance” to negotiators finalising the contours of a mutually beneficial India-European Union free trade deal. He will join his EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič as bilateral talks reach a “historic juncture” after 14 rounds of negotiations in the last 42 months.

Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal (ANI)

The minister is scheduled to visit Brussels for a “significant” two-day official trip from January 8-9, a government statement said on Tuesday. “The visit underscores the intensifying diplomatic and technical engagements between New Delhi and Brussels, signalling a decisive push toward concluding the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA),” it said.

Prior to Goyal’s visit, an Indian team led by the chief negotiator is already holding talks with its EU counterpart. Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal is also in Brussels to resolve technical issues alongside senior EU officials. As reported by HT on December 24, Goyal’s visit aims to iron out differences so the FTA can be concluded during the India-EU Summit later this month.

The ministerial engagement follows a week of intensive deliberations in Brussels, building upon the groundwork laid during high-level discussions held earlier this week (January 6-7) between Agrawal and the European Commission’s director-general for trade, Sabine Weyand, the ministry statement said.

“The talks come at a historic juncture for India-EU economic relations,” it said. The negotiations were ambitiously relaunched in June 2022 after a hiatus of over nine years, reflecting a renewed mutual commitment to deepen economic integration. Since the resumption, the two sides have held 14 rounds of intense negotiations and several high-level dialogues at the ministerial level, with the latest interaction in December 2025.

The EU is India’s largest trading partner and a key investor, with bilateral trade in goods significantly bolstered in the 2024-25 fiscal year. This agreement is envisioned not just as a trade deal, but as a comprehensive partnership that addresses modern economic realities.