The conclusion of a trade agreement with a bloc of four European countries — Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway — marks an important event for India’s trade relations. It is at the same time an affirmation of a positive view of multilateral, or perhaps more accurately ‘mini-lateral’, trade deals, and a model for bigger deals to come. India had not actively pursued trade agreements as a matter of policy, but the changing economic and trade scenarios in the world and the stalemate in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations may have led the country to take a fresh look at the policy. The agreement with the four countries, known as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), has been in the works for over 15 years. Though small, they are high-income countries and, together as a bloc, constitute India’s fifth-largest trading partner, after the European Union, China, the United States and the United Kingdom. So the agreement is of high value to both sides.