FTA talks with UK in advanced stage: Trade minister Piyush Goyal

New Delhi: India and the UK on Monday held discussions to advance negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA). Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who is on a two-day visit to London, said he held a “productive” meeting with UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, to give an impetus to the talks, which are in their advanced stages.“Arrived in London for two days of engaging discussions aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations. In my first engagement, held a productive meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds to advance free trade agreement negotiations, reinforcing our commitment to deepening India-UK economic ties,” Goyal posted on X.

People in the know said the FTA is almost 80% legally scrubbed but some tricky issues remain such as financial and legal services and the UK’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which is to be introduced on January 1, 2027.

Britain is keen on more opportunities for its services in India such as telecommunications, legal, banking and insurance. It wants free cross-border data flows.

As many as 14 rounds of negotiations have taken place between India and the UK for the FTA. The bilateral trade between India and the UK rose to $21.34 billion in FY24 from $20.36 billion in FY23. The two seek to double their bilateral goods trade in the next 10 years from the current $20 billion.

The negotiations are on three different fronts-FTA, Bilateral Investment Treaty and a social security pact called Double Contribution Convention Agreement.