New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): Lithuania is optimistic that the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will come into effect during its upcoming presidency of the European Union from January to June 2027, Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickeviciene said on Thursday, while describing the bilateral India-Lithuania ties as "solid" and "equal".
Speaking to ANI here, Mickeviciene expressed confidence that the remaining formalities for the FTA, expected to be signed by the end of 2026, would be completed in time for it to come into force during Lithuania's EU presidency.
"It looks like we are hoping to sign it by the end of this year. It's a matter of months on both sides before it can come into effect. Lithuania will hold the presidency of the European Union for the next half-year, from January to June 2027. We are very optimistic that the FTA will become valid during our EU presidency," she said.
Calling the proposed agreement a "game changer", the Lithuanian envoy said its comprehensive nature would encourage businesses in India and the EU to expand trade and investment cooperation.
"I think it will be a game changer because it's a very comprehensive agreement," she said.
"It really encourages businesses from both sides to go ahead and forge much more ambitious programmes and export-import collaboration projects. Yet it only reminds us that we should not stop at that. We should look ahead," the Ambassador added.
Mickeviciene further said that Lithuania, as the future holder of the EU presidency, was keen to contribute to strengthening the India-EU partnership.
"As the future EU presidency, we are definitely hoping to contribute and really have big plans to make this partnership work even more," she said.
Her remarks came as the India-EU FTA moves towards its final formalities. Government sources earlier today said that the legal scrubbing of the agreement has been completed, while internal approvals and translation processes are currently underway on the European Union side.
Both India and the EU remain committed to completing the remaining formalities for signing the agreement by the end of 2026, according to the sources.
The India-EU FTA was jointly announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on January 27 this year during the 16th India-EU Summit in New Delhi.
The announcement followed negotiations that resumed in 2022 after several years of discussions aimed at establishing a comprehensive and balanced trade partnership between India and the European Union.
The proposed agreement assumes significance given the scale of economic ties between India and the EU.
In 2024-25, bilateral trade in goods stood at USD 136.54 billion, with India's exports to the EU valued at USD 75.85 billion and imports at USD 60.68 billion.
Trade in services between India and the European Union reached USD 83.10 billion in 2024.
On India-Lithuania bilateral relations, Mickeviciene said the partnership had evolved from historical and cultural links into an increasingly high-tech economic relationship.
"The relationship is very solid. It stems from historical connections and the linguistic connection between Sanskrit and Lithuanian. Both are considered the closest sister languages among the living languages," she said.
The Ambassador said bilateral trade was increasingly shifting from basic goods towards high-tech products and components, while services were also becoming a more important part of economic exchanges.
"We are seeing the composition of our trade graduate from just basic goods to high-tech appliances and components. Increasingly, services have started taking an important part in our economic exchanges on both sides," she added.
Mickeviciene described the relationship as increasingly balanced, with trade and services flowing in both directions.
"I am very happy that it's a very equal relationship where we have trade and services moving from both sides. There is increasingly what you describe as a high-tech collaboration," she said.
"I look at our future as a very solid and diverse high-tech partnership," the Lithuanian Ambassador added.
India and Lithuania share longstanding cultural and historical links, with the close similarity between Lithuanian and Sanskrit often cited as an important connection between the two countries.
Lithuanian is regarded as the Indo-European language grammatically closest to Sanskrit, pointing to possible ancient linguistic and cultural links.
Before Lithuania's conversion to Christianity in the 13th century, its people followed nature-based spiritual traditions and worshipped a trinity of gods -- Perkunas, Patrimpas and Pikuolis.
In later centuries, Lithuanian engagement with India developed through Christian missionaries who travelled to India from the 16th century.
Lithuanian philosopher and ideologue Vydunas (Vilhelmas Storost, 1868-1953), a prominent figure in the country's 19th-century national movement and often referred to as the "Mahatma Gandhi of Lithuania", had a deep interest in Indian philosophy.
He developed his own philosophical system closely influenced by Vedanta and also practised Ayurveda.
India recognised Lithuania in 1991, after the erstwhile Soviet Union accepted their independence. Diplomatic relations between India and Lithuania were formally established on February 25, 1992. (ANI)
Optimistic that India-EU FTA will become valid during Lithuania's EU presidency: Ambassador says ties "solid, equal"
