European Union on Friday said itwas confident of inking the long-pending free trade pact with India later this year as talks on most issues are "closed" except duty-related matters including on wine and automobiles.
EU Ambassador to India Joao Cravinho said the pact is likely to be signed after elections in India and for the European Parliament.
launched in June, 2007, the negotiations for the proposed Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and the 27-nation European bloc have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues."I would expect it to be signed as soon as there are conditions to return to the negotiating table which will happen when we have respective democratic processes in 2014. I think it is possible within months to finalise the pact once the negotiation take off," he told reporters.
Asked whether a new government after 2014 lok Sabha polls could pose hurdles to the proposed pact, he said "we are too close not to have an agreement" as "most chapters" in negotiations are "pretty much closed". Cravinho s aid he wasconfident that the pact will be signed by end of 2014 or by early next year.