Germany bats for European Union-India Free Trade Agreement

Addressing a Press Conference with President of German Engineering Federation (VDMA), German Ambassador to India, Dr Martin Ney today batted for FTA free trade with European Union.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: Germany on Tuesday rooted for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union after India pitched for resumption of negotiations for the same. Addressing a Press Conference with President of German Engineering Federation (VDMA), German Ambassador to India, Dr Martin Ney today batted for FTA free trade with European Union. Ambassador Martin said FTA between the EU and India is the need of the hour. German Ambassador referred to the direction he very recently got from Chancellor Merkel where she said, India is very important for us and we need the Free Trade Agreement with India soon. Ambassador Ney, argued that both sides should restart negotiations soon as it would send out very strong signal to the world. Both sides till now have had least 16 rounds of negotiations but are on hold since India came out with new BIT Model (Bilateral Investment Treaties) in 2015. India had recently, on September 14, very strongly argued for restarting negotiations for FTA, but as ABP News learns from top government sources, despite willingness on both sides, a possible time frame to restart negotiations has still not been worked out. Speaking to media persons, German Ambassador also hinted of enhancing defence cooperation with India, which may lead to Germany manufacturing fighter aircrafts in India under Make in India program.