New Delhi: India and the UK on Monday decided to advance the India-UK free trade agreement or FTA deals, while ensuring that the pact is balanced, ambitious and mutually beneficial. The trade negotiations of both the countries are expected to deliver economic growth and bring the two economies closer, benefiting businesses with over 600,000 jobs across both countries and triple the trade in the next 10 years. Commenting on the development, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that the countries will look to speed up negotiations, while his UK counterpart, business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that securing a trade deal with India what is soon-to-be the third biggest economy in the world is a no-brainer, and a top priority for me and this government. Briefing media, Goyal also said the pact will be ‘pathbreaking’ and would provide huge opportunities to grow “our current $20 billion bilateral trade in merchandise to probably 2 or 3 X in the next 10 years”. On the deadline to conclude the negotiations, he said it’s never “too early’ or “too late” to conclude a good agreement as these pacts are for a long-term future,” the minister said. “One has to crystal gaze maybe 20-30-50 years into the future and make a robust agreement which is a win-win situation for both sides and therefore neither should we rush into things, but it’s always to conclude fast. So we will have speed but not haste. During the meeting, our discussions focused on advancing the India-UK Free Trade Agreement negotiations and ensuring that the agreement is balanced, ambitious and mutually beneficial. Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening trade and investment ties,” Goyal said. As per an official release of British High Commission, India and UK — currently the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies respectively, have a trade relationship worth 41 billion pounds ($51.8 billion), which supports over 600,000 jobs across both countries. “We are committed to driving economic growth across the UK, working with key international partners such as India and I look forward to meeting minister Goyal in New Delhi on a trade deal that will support jobs and bring prosperity for both countries,” said Reynolds. However, the Indian government also said that trade ministers of both India and UK will resume talks on an economic deal with two days of focused discussions – the first time both teams have formally got around the table since Britain’s Labour Party took power last year. “Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening trade and investment ties,” Goyal said. When asked about whether visas were included in the trade talks, the minister, however, said that immigration has never been part of trade negotiations. “The India-UK FTA negotiations were launched on January 13, 2022 and the agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments,” the minister said. In such pacts, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments. The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $21.34 billion in 2023-24 from $20.36 billion in 2022-23. The UK, being the sixth largest investor in India, received $35.3 billion FDI during April 2000 and September 2024.
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