India-EU Talks: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal Meets EC Officials

India's Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal held a round of senior-level meetings in Brussels with the European Commission, which were made public on 2 November 2026. The purpose was to widen the economic and strategic partnership that India and the European Union have built, and to clear the ground for the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Whom the Commerce Secretary met

What each meeting covered

With the head of DG TRADE, the two sides examined ways of easing two-way trade, opening markets wider, making supply chains harder to break and creating fresh openings for firms on either side. They repeated that the agreement they are working towards has to be fair and balanced for both, and said they would stay in touch over the procedural and implementation questions still left open.

The meeting at DG INTPA turned on development cooperation between the two partners, taking in sustainable development, clean energy and green technologies. At DG TAXUD the subject was customs, where both sides accepted that digital and transparent procedures cut the cost of doing business and keep legitimate cargo moving without delay.

The diamond trade

Mr Agrawal also sat down with the diamond industry, among them people drawn from the Antwerp diamond ecosystem, at the Embassy of India in Brussels. Certification, traceability, responsible sourcing and the worldwide diamond value chain came up for discussion. India and Belgium treat gems and jewellery as a priority field, and Antwerp, Mumbai and Surat are counted as the leading diamond centres.

Roundtable with European industry

A roundtable organised with BusinessEurope and the Embassy of India in Brussels, which Ambassador Pranay Verma also addressed, took place on 30 October 2026. The Commerce Secretary pointed to India's growth, its record on reform and the sectors now open to investment, and asked European companies to take a larger place in India's expanding value chains.