♤ 50,000 Indian students are in EU in higher education, with 5,000 having been provided ERASMUS scholarships.

2.6. India-EU FTA or the BTIA

♤ With its combination of rapid growth, complementary trade baskets and relatively high degree of market protection, India is an obvious partner for a free trade agreement (FTA) for the EU.

♤ The parameters for an ambitious FTA were set out in the report of the EU-India High Level Trade Group in October 2006.

♤ Other studies have reinforced the economic potential of an FTA between the EU and India, notably a sustainability impact assessment concluded in 2009.

♤ Negotiations on the India-EU free trade agreement started back in 2007 and 16 rounds of talks have been held since then. The last round was held in 2013, after which negotiations were suspended.