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EAEU, India set to complete talks on free trade area as soon as possible — diplomat

According to Denis Alipov, such an agreement will directly contribute to the expansion of trade and economic relations with India

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and India are counting on the fastest possible conclusion of negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

"I would like to separately mention the multilateral track in which we are engaged. These are the negotiations that have begun between the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Eurasian Economic Union, and India on a free trade zone agreement. These negotiations began last year and are continuing this year. We aim to complete them as quickly as possible," he said.

According to Alipov, such an agreement will directly contribute to the expansion of trade and economic relations with India. At the 22nd Russian-Indian summit, which took place in Moscow on July 8-9, 2024, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, the countries signed a joint statement. The document stated, in particular, that Russia and India had reached an agreement to explore the creation of an EAEU-India free trade area.

On December 21, 2025, at the EAEU summit in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that New Delhi had expressed its readiness to intensify work on an agreement with the union. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk noted that negotiations on a free trade area between the EAEU and India had been successful.

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