The next round of talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation bloc of Southeast Asian nations—Asean—is scheduled to be held in July to review the existing deal with India, a senior government official said on Sunday.

Terming the India-European Union Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) the 'most difficult FTA,' External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Monday that it is the most difficult one because there are a lot of non-trade issues involved in this FTA.

In a development that gives India the advantage to gain geographical indication (GI) tag for its basmati rice, the European Union (EU) has re-published Pakistan’s application for such a tag for the fragrant rice under a new clause.

India has been developing part of the port in Chabahar on Iran's southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the port of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

The government is working on a verification system to help exporters deal with countervailing duty cases on domestic products over the RODTEP scheme, an official said. The exercise is important as countervailing or anti-subsidy duties were imposed on certain domestic units by the US and European Union (EU).

Avocados Australia Limited, the representative body for the Australian avocado industry, announced its much-anticipated entry into the Indian market, accompanied by cricket icon Brett Lee as the brand ambassador. This exciting collaboration marks a significant milestone for both Australian avocados and the Indian fresh fruit market. 

India is expected to remain the leading player in the global rice market, the latest projection by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed. This development comes in spite of the restrictions imposed by the country on the exports. 

Within India’s agriculture sector, the food processing industry is seen as the engine of growth essential to the sector’s expansion. The food processing sector must develop at double-digit rates for the agriculture sector to exceed the 4 per cent growth criterion and meet the growing food demands of the nation’s expanding population.