India-EU FTA to be a game changer, boost trade significantly: Lithuanian envoy

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be a game changer and is expected to significantly boost trade between the two sides, Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickevičienė said.

In an interview with IANS, Mickevičienė said the agreement which is ready to be signed, would provide an important foundation for a new generation of engagement between India and the European Union.

“We hope to sign the FTA by the end of this year,” she said, adding that Lithuania will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June 2027.

“It is very likely and we will work very hard to make it happen that the FTA will become valid and operational during our presidency,” she added.

Mickevičienė said the agreement would be one of the highlights of Lithuania’s EU presidency and an important foundation stone for stronger India-EU engagement.

Describing the pact as a major achievement for both India and the EU, she said the two sides had found a balance between liberalising access to each other’s goods and services and protecting sectors that are vital and potentially vulnerable.

“It is a big victory for both India and the EU because they have found the right balance between enhancing and liberalising access to each other’s goods and services while also protecting sectors that are vital and potentially vulnerable on both sides,” she told IANS.

The envoy further noted that the agreement has been described as the mother of all deals and envisaged as a blueprint for a new generation of international trade agreements.

On India-Lithuania economic ties, Mickevičienė said the two countries have developing trade and a steady movement of goods and services.

Trade between the two countries is also increasingly moving beyond traditional products, with more components, electronic products and digital devices being traded in both directions, according to her.

She also highlighted the scope for cooperation in artificial intelligence and new technologies, noting that Lithuania has companies working in the sector and Indian IT talent working in the country.

She said Lithuania would like India to join international efforts to make the convention a global instrument governing the impact of AI on democracy, human rights and shared values.

–IANS

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