Merkel: Glad India-EU FTA concluded after marathon of negotiation

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed happiness that the free trade agreement between India and the European Union has finally been concluded and underlined that the world must work together at a time when the US is either leaving or weakening international organizations.

“I am very glad that after a marathon of negotiations over 18 years, the FTA has been finalised between India and the EU,” she said while delivering the inaugural Dr Manmohan Singh Memorial Lecture on Thursday.

Noting that the FTA negotiations were concluded only after issues of all sides had been addressed, she further said that for India, the agriculture sector is very important and needed to be safeguarded. Her comments come after India and the EU concluded negotiations for the FTA on January 27 this year.

In her address, she also noted that the world has changed dramatically over the last few years since former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demitted office in 2014.

While the seemingly unshakeable concept of territorial integrity was shaken in Europe by the Russian war on Ukraine, the US under President Donald Trump has left or weakened international organisations and has questioned the role of the UN and the UN Security Council as a place of mediation, she noted.

\“The order of cooperation has been replaced by the order of might makes right,” Merkel noted, adding that even if the US has left the multilateral table, other countries must work together.

She also highlighted challenges arising from social media and Artificial Intelligence and “the ability to call truth lies and lies truth” that is greatly impacting democracy.  She underlined that technology must be subject to multilateral protection and agreements and called for regulation of social media and AI.

On AI, she said that countries must not only listen to industry. “Our task is to look after our people and look after their interests,” she said during a discussion with former foreign secretary of India Shivshankar Menon.

She also urged countries to come together to work on man mad adversities and climate change.