Union commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said he was in support of the India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement, while acknowledging the difficulties associated with it.

Speaking via remote link at the International Relations Conference at Symbiosis’s sprawling Lavale campus, Prabhu said many issues were agreed upon at the October India-EU summit in New Delhi involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

There was a positive outcome (regarding the trade deal) at the talks. I would like to see a free trade arrangement signed between India and the EU, who already have extensive trade links. I have asked our chief negotiator in this issue to restart talks,Prabhu said as a part of his address.

After decades of talks, formal negotiations over a freetrade agreement had started between India and the EU in 2013. There are Indian and European sensibilities and issues involved. A partnership between India and the EU will benefit the whole world, he remarked.