India-EU FTA: Assessing the “Mother of All Deals”

By Biswajit Dhar | Briefing Paper # 71 | April 6, 2026

On 27th January this year, India and the EU concluded their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, the most protracted trade negotiations between two economies. It was at the 2005 EU-India Summit that the EU and India expressed “serious political commitment to increase bilateral trade and economic cooperation and to tackle barriers to trade and…

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The “Trump Round” of Trade Talks Through 2025   

By Shalini Bhutani | Commentary | December 27, 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, it is plain to see that the year has been marked by US President Trump singularly undertaking a round of bilateral trade talks with several countries across the world. It is important to consider how his modus operandi tramples on democratic processes and principles in the United States. It…

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​​​​The Coalition of the Willing: A Way Forward for IFA Reforms  

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 70 | October 27, 2025

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) was held in Sevilla (Spain), from June 30 to July 3, 2025, amidst a challenging global economic and geopolitical environment. The FfD4 took place against the backdrop of rising global debt levels, backsliding of developmental goals, escalating geopolitical tensions, weakening of multilateralism and international solidarity,…

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Why India Should Reject U.S. Demands in BTA Negotiations

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 69 | August 7, 2025

The executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump last week to levy a 25 percent tariff on India, coupled with an additional 25 percent tariff announced on 6 August for its purchases of Russian oil, have posed new hurdles to the ongoing fast-track negotiations on an India-U.S. bilateral trade agreement (BTA).

The additional 25…

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Reimagining and Redesigning International Financial Architecture: The Path to Sevilla and Beyond

By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 68 | June 20, 2025

The term “international financial architecture” is currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity thanks to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), scheduled for June 30 to July 3, 2025, in Spain. Despite the extensive discourse surrounding this concept since the late 1990s, there is no universally accepted definition of what is meant…

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