India and the European Union on Friday agreed to conclude a free trade deal by the end of the year, their first commitment to a deadline on talks that have been going for years, as they look to soften the effect of tariff increases from the United States.

NEW DELHI -- India and the European Union are aiming to conclude an ambitious free trade agreement by the end of this year, their leaders announced on Friday.

In an unprecedented move, India and the European Union (EU) have set a deadline to finish the talks for having the decades-old proposed trade pact by the end of this year.