Officials say they hope that the visit by Mr. Modi, who will stop in Brussels on his way to the U.S. will also see an announcement on the resumption of talks on the BTIA, as the free trade agreement (FTA) is known.

On Monday Commerce Secretary Rita Teotia will lead a delegation to Brussels to meet her counterpart at the European Commission. Sources also say that there will be one more meeting on the FTA on March 30 at the level of Commerce Ministers on the sidelines of the PM’s visit.

According to officials there are still some obstacles preventing the resumption of the India-EU FTA talks that were suspended in 2013 after 16 rounds of negotiation.