The two sides have set this year as the deadline to complete the negotiations, which began three years ago. But both have said much hard work needs to be done to break logjams holding up a deal.

"The talks between the two sets of negotiators have begun and will conclude on Friday," an EU spokeswoman told AFP.

The EU has been seeking to include global warming, intellectual property rights and child-labour policies in the negotiations but India has opposed the incorporation of what it calls "extraneous" non-trade issues.

The latest talks are the eighth since discussions began on a free trade pact, the spokeswoman said.

India and the 27-member EU, which is the South Asian nation's biggest trading partner, have missed earlier targets for wrapping up a deal.

The EU and India have set an ambitious goal of more than doubling their bilateral trade to 200 billion dollars in the next four years if a free trade deal is concluded.

India has been pushing for free trade pacts worldwide.

Last year, New Delhi concluded a far-reaching trade agreement with South Korea scrapping or reducing most trade tariffs over the next decade.

India also signed a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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