The end of this year is likely to see India move considerably forward on trade agreements with both the European Union (EU) and Canada. 

While the Indian government expects the EU authorities to sign the text of the free trade agreement (FTA) with India by the end of this year, it also expects to complete negotiations on an FTA with Canada by that time, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Tuesday (September 15, 2026).  

Further, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will be traveling to the U.S. at the end of this month to attend the G20 Trade Ministers’ meeting, during which he will likely hold a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart to discuss trade issues, including the much-delayed interim trade agreement announced in February.

The India-New Zealand FTA is also expected to become operational in the second half of October, Mr. Agrawal said, adding that an exact date has not been finalised. The Hindu, however, has learnt that the most likely date for operationalisation is October 19.

EU FTA on track  

“On the EU FTA, it is moving as per schedule,” Mr. Agrawal said. “The European Commission has sent it to the European Council for approval. After approval, it goes for signing. We expect them to sign it before the end of this year.” 

After signing, the deal will have to be passed and ratified by the European Parliament. 

“As far as the process has gone on, I think it is the fastest so far,” Mr. Agrawal noted. 

Canada deal expedited

The Hindu had reported on September 10 that the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) would be completed by the end of this year, citing comments made by Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter at The Hindu Mind event in New Delhi. 

Mr. Agrawal has now confirmed this, saying that the Canadian team is currently in New Delhi and that both sides are working towards a year-end deadline. 

“The fourth round of negotiations are ongoing,” Mr. Agrawal said. “The discussions are across all the chapters of the deal. Negotiations for two chapters have already been concluded. Both sides want to see good progress in this round because we are looking at a very tight timeline as both sides are working to see if we can close this agreement within the end of this year.” 

Talks with U.S.

The Commerce Secretary also confirmed that Mr. Goyal will be traveling to the U.S. for the G20 Ministerial meeting on trade that is scheduled to take place on September 30 to October 1.

“We expect during the visit there definitely will be a bilateral meeting between the ministers, though it has not been confirmed and finalised,” Mr. Agrawal said. “When the bilateral takes place, all trade issues will be discussed. Even the ongoing FTA negotiations and the way forward on that will be on the agenda for discussion.”

India has been holding off on signing the interim agreement on trade with the U.S., announced in February 2026, waiting for the U.S. to make clear India’s tariff advantage over its competitors as had been agreed to. 

In the meantime, the U.S. has levied a 10% tariff on India for not doing enough to stop the import of goods made using forced labour. It is also investigating whether India and other countries are using excess capacity to export to the U.S., which could see additional tariffs being levied.

The European Commission has forwarded the text of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement to the European Council for its signature and conclusion, signalling that the legal vetting and finalisation of the text have been completed and all that remains are the internal approvals.

“Today, the European Commission has put forward its proposals to the Council for the signature and conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and India, seeking authorisation for its signature and conclusion,” the Commission said in a statement on Friday (September 11, 2026). 

The EU’s Ambassador-designate to India and Bhutan Jean-Eric Paquet took to X to celebrate the achievement, saying this would “clear the path for early approval”, and adding that the full text of the agreement was now being made public.

The European Council is the top political body of the European Union, framing the grouping’s political goals. The European Commission acts as the EU’s executive body and proposes new laws. The European Parliament votes and passes these new laws. 

“With its proposals, the Commission is seeking Council’s approval to sign the agreements which will then require European Parliament’s consent, before conclusion and entry into force,” the statement said. “The Indian authorities are in parallel going through their own internal ratification procedures.”

It added that the proposal to sign and conclude the FTA text is in line with the fast-track procedure laid out by EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič earlier this year. 

“The procedure aims at speeding up the implementation of FTAs, which is crucial at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and growing pressure on the global trading system,” the statement said. Leaders on both sides have repeatedly expressed their confidence that the FTA will come into force in early 2027.

The European Commission has forwarded the text of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement to the European Council for its signature and conclusion, signalling that the legal vetting and finalisation of the text have been completed and all that remains are the internal approvals.

“Today, the European Commission has put forward its proposals to the Council for the signature and conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and India, seeking authorisation for its signature and conclusion,” the Commission said in a statement on Friday (September 11, 2026). 

The EU’s Ambassador-designate to India and Bhutan Jean-Eric Paquet took to X to celebrate the achievement, saying this would “clear the path for early approval”, and adding that the full text of the agreement was now being made public.

The European Council is the top political body of the European Union, framing the grouping’s political goals. The European Commission acts as the EU’s executive body and proposes new laws. The European Parliament votes and passes these new laws. 

“With its proposals, the Commission is seeking Council’s approval to sign the agreements which will then require European Parliament’s consent, before conclusion and entry into force,” the statement said. “The Indian authorities are in parallel going through their own internal ratification procedures.”

It added that the proposal to sign and conclude the FTA text is in line with the fast-track procedure laid out by EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič earlier this year. 

“The procedure aims at speeding up the implementation of FTAs, which is crucial at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and growing pressure on the global trading system,” the statement said. Leaders on both sides have repeatedly expressed their confidence that the FTA will come into force in early 2027.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen once again called for an investment agreement between India and the European Union (EU), terming it a “missing piece of the puzzle” in the cooperation plans of the two economies.

Ms. von der Leyen was speaking at the European Business Round Table for Industry in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also delivered his address.

The investment agreement, being negotiated alongside the trade deal, was not finalised as the two sides could not agree on some key aspects, the most notable being dispute resolution. 

‘Half the equation’

“But trade is only half the equation,” Ms. von der Leyen said. “Our next step must be to deliver an investment agreement. This is the missing piece of the puzzle in our reinforced economic cooperation, especially in a world where supply chains are being reshaped, and economic security challenges us as never before. Deepening our investment ties will help us to de-risk and diversify.”

During his address, Mr. Modi did not touch upon the investment agreement but instead highlighted the benefits of the trade deal and the other agreements that have been signed between the EU and India. 

“The India-EU FTA will create new opportunities for industries, investors, and innovators,” Mr. Modi said.

“The Security and Defence Partnership and the Mobility Agreement have given new strength to our strategic and people-centric partnership,” he added. “The India-EU Trade and Technology Council has further deepened our cooperation. We are working together in areas such as digital technology, clean energy, semiconductors, resilient supply chains, and innovation.”

‘Trade agreement opened the door’

In the 26 years between January 2000 and December 2025, European countries have invested a little more than $110 billion as direct investment in India, making up for about 14% of the total foreign direct investment India has attracted during the period. 

However, the most recent years reveal considerable volatility in the inflows from Europe. 

For example, FDI from Europe stood at about $5.5 billion in 2025, having fallen from approximately $10.6 billion in 2024, which had seen a significant increase over the $5.3 billion in 2023.

Consequently, Europe’s share in India’s total FDI fell to less than 10% in 2025 from about 20% the year before, and about 13% in 2023. Ms. von der Leyen indicated that an investment agreement would enhance investment flows.

“Basically, one can say that the trade agreement opened the door,” Ms. von der Leyen added. “An investment agreement walks us through it.” 

On Tuesday (May 19), Mr. Modi will meet Nordic leaders from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland at the Nordic India Summit where the India-EU free trade agreement will be discussed again. 

Norway and Iceland — also part of the Nordic Summit — are EFTA countries that signed a separate Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with India in 2024, which came into force in 2025. The occasion will also see a stock-taking of the progress of this deal thus far.

Compliance and dispute resolution

According to several people who have been tracking the negotiations between India and the European Union, the biggest factor holding up the investment agreement were the differences between the two economies on dispute resolution. Other issues pertain to concerns over land acquisition, judicial protections, and exit clauses.

India had in 2017 unilaterally put an end to nearly all its Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), and has subsequently announced a new approach to dispute resolution that has engendered uncertainty among foreign investors. 

The key issue is that, under the BITs, disputes over foreign investment used to be arbitrated in a third country. The new framework seeks to replace this with an India-centric dispute resolution process. 

With India signing a series of free trade agreements with developed countries, the government is working on an FTA utilisation plan to help maximise benefits from these pacts, an official said.

Since 2021, India has finalised free trade agreements (FTAs) with Mauritius, Australia, the UAE, Oman, New Zealand, the EFTA (European Free Trade Association), the European Union (EU), the U.K. and U.S.

These pacts cover 38 countries whose combined global imports stand at about $12 trillion.

The main Indian sectors that have received duty-free market access in these FTA partner countries include agriculture, textiles and apparel, gems and jewellery, leather and leather goods, engineering, electronics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held a series of meetings with industry associations, businesses and export promotion councils (EPCs) on ways to increase utilisation of these agreements. He suggested that businesses leverage these pacts to boost exports and domestic manufacturing.

The official added that the Minister on Monday (May 4, 2026) held a review meeting with key officers and chief negotiators to asses the progress of India’s free trade acts.

Another meeting on Thursday (May 7, 2026), was held on preparing a roadmap for obtaining sanitary and phytosanitary (related to plants and animals) approvals for Indian agricultural and fisheries products across global markets.

The Commerce Ministry has involved Indian missions abroad in the exercise. Besides, all the line ministries are part of the process, the official said.

The role of Indian missions includes ensuring FTA awareness in importing country, market intelligence on new opportunities, and expediting resolution of non-tariff barriers.

Similarly, the line ministries’ role includes ensuring sufficient production, alignment with global standards, and focus on trade facilitation.

The whole exercise is important as the country is looking at increasing goods and services exports to $2 trillion in the coming years (one trillion each).

The country’s goods and services exports rose 4.6% to an all-time high of $863.11 billion during 2025-26, from $825.26 billion in 2024-25, despite global economic uncertainties.

Merchandise exports grew 0.93% to $441.78 billion in the last fiscal year from $437.70 billion in 2024-25. Services exports too surged to an all-time high of $421.32 billion in 2025-26, compared to $387.55 billion a year ago, recording a growth of 8.71%.

Shishir Priyadarshi, President, CRF, and former Director, WTO, said Indian businesses must stop viewing FTAs merely as tariff-cutting arrangements as their real value lies in helping firms integrate into global value chains, diversify supply chains, and position themselves as trusted partners in an increasingly fragmented global economy.

“The FTAs should be seen as an opportunity not just to export more, but to export smarter – through branded products, advanced manufacturing, processed goods, and higher-value services that strengthen India’s long-term industrial competitiveness globally,” he said.