The proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement is likely to focus on investment liberalisation, while keeping investment protection and arbitration out of the pact, to be negotiated separately in a bilateral investment treaty.
Several non-European Union states are keen on finalising bilateral investment treaties with India to boost the potential for investments and to address concerns of investors on matters such as dispute resolution.
India’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the commerce ministry to examine the model text of the bilateral investment treaty and suggest modifications to further improve the ease of doing business.
Switzerland pursues a new bilateral investment treaty with India post EFTA deal, addressing model treaty concerns.India remains reluctant on concessions, focusing on market.
Panthera, a gold exploration company with assets in India, said that its subsidiary Indo Gold Pty Ltd had issued a notice of dispute to the Indian government over the latter’s breach of the 1999 Australia-India bilateral investment treaty.