India and Switzerland have agreed to set up a special group to address constraints related to trade and investment under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) that has been operational for a year now.
"A group will be formed within the Government of India to discuss all issues related to trade constraints or investment constraints," Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sibi George told reporters at a briefing on state visit of Swiss President Guy Parmelin to India.
TEPA is a trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), operationalised in October 2025. Members of EFTA other than Switzerland are Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is the bloc's biggest economy and India's largest trade partner, with total bilateral trade at $25 billion.
Despite EFTA being in force, India's exports to the region fell 22.7% to $461 million in April-June of this financial year, and imports contracted 13% to $2.93 billion.
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During their bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Swiss President discussed entire spectrum of cooperation under TEPA, and "this would definitely help us to implement all the provisions mentioned in TEPA," the secretary said.
"We have taken several important decisions to increase market access for Indian exports in Switzerland and further facilitate investment between the two countries. This will help increase exports of Indian agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, engineering goods to Switzerland," Modi said after meeting.
At same time, we will attract new Swiss investments int key sectors in India, such as biotechnology, life sciences, banking, insurance, food processing, and sustainability.
There are 340 Swiss companies operating in India who have collectively invested $11 billion. Indian investment in Switzerland stands at $9 billion, and currently, 1,150 Indian companies, including biggest names in pharma and IT sectors, have a presence there.
Both countries also identified new opportunities for cooperation in military exchanges and defence production and agreed to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy.
The secretary said India has also invited Swiss universities to set up campuses in India. During the visit, five Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and agreements were signed between the two sides, including on migration, young professionals and sustainable infra.
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Why exports fell? TEPA promises $100 billion investment from EFTA over 15 years linked to tariff cuts, but Swiss non-tariff barriers - SPS standards for agri, Swissmedic approvals for pharma, rules of origin for textiles - remain. India seeks higher Swiss market access for farm products, pharma, textiles, engineering goods. Switzerland wants IP protection and data exclusivity.
Special group is admission that FTA text alone does not create trade. India did same with Australia CECA early harvest glitches. If group can fast-track GI recognition for Basmati, ayurveda product registration, and engineering goods MRA, Q1 dip may be blip.
Tags: #IndoSwiss #TEPA #EFTA #GuyParmelin #FTA #SwissInvestment #PharmaExport #TradeDeficit #MoU #MakelnIndia