Karel De Gucht, the European Union (EU) trade commissioner, called on commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma on Thursday ahead of the 12th EU-India Summit that will take place in the capital on Friday.
“India-EU Summit will further strengthen the two large economies of the world and the proposed bilateral trade and investment agreement (BTIA) will give a fillip to an expanded and more diversified trade between the two sides,” Sharma said.
Both the leaders met individually as well as with their official delegation to iron out the differences on trade related issues.
Although, the negotiations for the much-delayed pact between India and the 27-nation bloc is unlikely to be concluded in the near future, some announcements are expected to be made on February 10, a source said.
The talks were to conclude in 2011, but differences among the two sides on the level of opening of the market came in the way of the BTIA.
The issues that will likely feature during the summit level talks include duty cuts in automobile sector and opening of services sector.