India's concerns were conveyed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht when the two met on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris today during which they also reviewed the current status of the India-European Union Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiations.
The two sides have failed to bridge the gap on various crucial issues, including increase in FDI in insurance sector by India and granting of the status of data secure nation by the European Union during the talks between their Chief Negotiators here earlier this month.
Data-secure status is a big demand of India as its current lack of status has prevented the flow of sensitive information to India, a big deal for its IT industry.
This has also impacted the movement of people through restrictions on business development as it restricts transfer of personal data to locations outside EU, unless the importing country ensures adequate data protection.