INDIA and the European Union (EU) are taking steps to end a trade row sparked by an EU ban on Indian pharmaceutical products that New Delhi responded to by cancelling talks on a free trade accord with its largest trading partner, officials said.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office wrote to the E.U. Trade Commissioner to intervene when the ban on around 700 pharmaceutical products was formalized in May, two government sources in New Delhi said. There was no response, so the government cancelled an Aug. 28 meeting to discuss restarting talks on the free trade accord that stalled in 2012, the sources said.

    The EU Trade Commission said it did not get the letter from Modi’s office on the ban, which is linked to flaws in clinical tests done by India’s GVK Biosciences for other companies to make sure generic drugs are as good as the patented originals they emulate.

    Coming after a trip to Germany where Modi personally argued that the long-stalled talks on a free trade accord should be revived, India’s about-turn was a shock for the 28-nation grouping, which insisted the ban was a minor, technical issue unconnected to trade.

    India though, sees the move as veiled protectionism and support for major European drug manufacturers.(SD-Agencies)