Details of the India EU Free Trade Pact: #GS II #International Relations Topic – International Relations: ∙Context: ∙Piyush Goyal, the minister of commerce for the union, claims that it will take longer to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with the union of 27 nations. ∙Mr. Goyal stated that the EU and two to three additional nations are currently involved in active negotiations for FTAs while speaking at the Technotex conference, which was organised by the business association FICCI in this city. ∙Even with the best efforts of the government, there have been some regulatory obstacles in India for foreign investment. ∙A lawsuit was brought by investors against India: Many multinational corporations, including Vodafone, Cairn Energy, Nissan, White Industries, Telenor, Nokia, and Vedanta, have filed lawsuits against India to force government to uphold the rights specified in the bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The main reason the EU wants an IPA with India is because of this. ∙Despite India’s history of unilaterally changing the law, investors from the EU are nonetheless protected under Indian law. To the detriment of the investor, it is possible to unilaterally alter Indian law. ∙Indian courts’ protracted legal procedures agonisingly prolong the decision-making process. This leads to the desire for protection under international law. ∙Before the INDIA-EU Treaty is signed, what obstacles must be overcome? ∙Non-justiciable tax regulations: By declaring tax-related regulatory measures non-justiciable, India seeks to move taxation policy outside the ambit of the treaty. Given India’s recent experiences with tax-related investment issues with Vodafone, Cairn Energy, and Nissan, the EU finds it difficult to accept this proposition. ∙A two-tiered judicial system In order to settle treaty issues […]
