No free trade pact if EU insists on opening up dairy biz: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: There will be no free trade agreement with the European Union if the bloc insists on India opening up its dairy sector, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Friday.

Goyal said that first the sensitivities between the 27 countries of the EU and 27 states of India need to be respected."If we respect each other's sensitivities, like with UAE, Australia and EFTA, we respected each other's sensitivities, and not encroach on issues which can hurt. For example, dairy, I just cannot open up dairy. If the EU insists that I open up dairy, there is no FTA," he said at the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business.

Australia did its first FTA with India without dairy as they respected India's issues.


Insisting that the two sides need to respect each other's sovereignty, he said: "We are no longer a pushover. We don't negotiate from a position of weakness".

Emphasising that the per capita income of EU member countries is much higher than that of the Indian states, Goyal said: "I may be growing apples in one state, which does not permit me to open apples". "If we respect (these) things, the FTA can be done very honourably, admirably and fast," Goyal said.

He also said there is a need to focus the energies on trade and on promoting investments and deeper strategic partnerships to push the talks. "It will have to be a political decision and the negotiations cannot be left to the bureaucracy alone," the minister said.