India and the European Union (EU) chief negotiators will begin the next round of talks on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) here from Monday, with an aim to conclude the first phase of the pact as early as possible. The two sides have agreed to conclude the agreement in two phases on account of the uncertain global trade environment, particularly due to the US tariff actions under President Donald Trump, according to the government official.Issues where there is convergence would be included in the first part of the agreement. They are aiming to conclude the second part by the end of this year. “The EU team will be here for the 11th round of negotiations. It will continue till May 16,” the official said.India has followed the practice of negotiating trade pacts in two phases with Australia. It is following a similar approach to the US. Talks for the previous (tenth) round focused on areas like market access offers in goods, services, investment and government procurement.Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal last month stated that if some of the issues, which may not be very core to the trade, may take some more time, then it is better to focus on core trade issues. So, we say that first things first...We are also discussing with the EU what can be the early harvest of the first tranche, where we can do it faster. The secretary, on May 10, held a review meeting on the pact with senior officials who are involved in the negotiations.Besides demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles and medical devices, the EU wants tax reduction in products like wines, spirits, meat, poultry and a strong intellectual property regime. Indian goods' exports to the EU, such as ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products, and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the pact gets concluded successfully.