Stories
Sitharaman Meets Swiss President to Advance Bilateral Investment Treaty
- •Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Swiss President Guy Parmelin to discuss advancing Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations.
- •The talks aimed to enhance investment flows and deepen economic engagement between India and Switzerland.
- •A Bilateral Investment Treaty helps promote and protect investments made by investors in each other's territory.
- •Discussions come as India seeks robust protection for its increasing Outward Direct Investment.
- •Current frameworks require foreign investors to wait five years before initiating treaty-based arbitration against India.
Key Questions Answered
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Swiss President Guy Parmelin to discuss issues of common interest, primarily focusing on advancing negotiations for a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) to enhance investment flows and deepen economic engagement.
A Bilateral Investment Treaty promotes and protects investments made by investors in each other's territory while allowing investors to take sovereign governments to arbitration. With India's Outward Direct Investment increasing, these treaties ensure that domestic investors and companies investing abroad receive adequate protection.
Under the 2016 framework, a foreign investor must wait for five years and first pursue domestic remedies before initiating a treaty-based arbitration against India. However, this duration has faced growing opposition and calls for reduction in recent years.
