Q. Which of the following countries or groups are involved in BTIA?
a) India- African Union
b) India- European Union
c) India – North America
d) None of these
ANSWER:- b)
RELATED FACTS:-
- On 4th August, 2021 Ministry of commerce & Industry said in a written reply that India and EU have agreed to resume the negotiations for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement.
- Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, including those on specific issues, are to be held considering the interest of either side.
- The commodities included / excluded in the FTA negotiations are to be finalized based on extensive consultations with the stakeholders, once negotiations resume.
- Review of the existing FTAs is an ongoing process to maximize country’s export potential to benefit the domestic industry, and to make the FTAs more user friendly, simple and trade facilitative.
About India- EU Free Trade Agreement:-
- The BTIA (Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement) broad trade arrangement covers many factors of trade in goods, services, and investment.
- India is one of the EU’s important, if not the largest, trading partners due to the fact that India accounted for 13.5% of total trade in 2015-2016. Thus the BTIA is important for both the EU and India.
- Both India and the European Union have been negotiating the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement for decades.
- The negotiations include many factors such as tariff reductions, market access and investments.
- The last rounds of negotiations happened in November 2013 and ever since then, the negotiations have been stonewalled.
- Latest events like the Brexit and terminations of other overseas investment treaties might have a direct impact on the BTIA and negotiations are likely to resume in the becoming years.
By – ABHISHEK KUMAR
LINK
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1742403