India, UK inch closer to Free Trade Agreement after first round of talks

India and the UK on January 28, Friday inched closer to the ambitious Free Trade Agreement that will boost total trade between the two nations by an estimated Rs 2800 crore [£28 billion] a year by 2035.UK’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal formally started the 15th meeting on the deal on January 13 and have successfully completed the first round of negotiations with countries to reach terms that will benefit the trade and commerce on both sides.

Both UK and India acknowledged the “importance of ensuring this first round held virtually over two weeks could proceed despite the challenges presented by the COVID pandemic,” ANI reported on Friday. 

UK-India discuss 26 policy areas in first round of talks 

Technical experts from both India and the UK came together for discussions in 32 separate sessions covering 26 policy areas including Trade in Goods, Trade in Services including Financial Services and Telecommunications, Investment, Intellectual Property, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Competition, Gender, Government Procurement, SMEs, Sustainability, Transparency, Trade and Development, Geographical Indicators and Digital in the first round of talks.

“India is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies and a bold new deal would put UK businesses at the front of the queue to supply India’s growing middle class, forecast to increase to a quarter of a billion consumers by 2050,” UK’s Department for International Trade said in a release. 

The deal, according to the UK, has the potential to double UK exports to India as it is set to become the world’s third-biggest economy by 2050. UK and India want to mutually reach an agreement that will make the business and trading between the two nations easier and will remove trade barriers.

“The positive discussions in round one have laid the groundwork for the UK and India to make positive and efficient progress,” India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry informed in a press release. A deal with India is a global opportunity to put UK businesses at front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly," UK's Anne-Marie Trevelyan said at the event in New Delhi during her visit. The next round of the consultation is scheduled for 7-18 March 2022.