Around 250 Indian sex workers living with HIV and others sexually transmitted diseases, Friday held a protest in the southern Indian city of Mysore opposing any move to ink Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) , reported local daily Indian Express Saturday.

The protesters said if India signs an FTA agreement with EU, medical costs for them, especially the supply of generic life- saving drugs, would skyrocket.

The protest was organized by a group called "Ashraya", a registered community based organization comprising sex workers and non-sex workers living with HIV.

The organization said unlike a decade ago, treatment for prolonging the life span of people living with HIV is possible now through Anti-Retroviral Therapy. This has been made possible primarily due to availability of generic drugs that Indian pharmaceutical industry manufactures and supplies at affordable cost to over 96 countries across the globe.

Accepting FTA with EU would mean thousands of people living with HIV in India cannot afford to receive these drugs any more, the organization warned.

India and EU said on Friday they would accelerate pace for signing an FTA at a bilateral summit meeting in the Indian capital.