Why free trade agreement is necessary for India-UK relations?
Trade is of great importance in terms of strengthening mutual relations between india and the United Kingdom. However, despite all the efforts, the bilateral trade has not got the same pace as the big economies of india and the United Kingdom. To move forward on this diplomatically important issue, both the countries are engaged in efforts to finalize the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Eye on 12th round of FTA talks
For the proposed free trade agreement, 11 rounds of talks have been completed between the two countries. The 12th round of FTA talks is to be held in delhi from august 7. The 11th round of talks took place in london in July and was attended by Commerce and industry Minister piyush goyal and Commerce Secretary sunil Barthwal. There are a total of 26 chapters in the proposed free trade agreement, out of which 19 have been negotiated. These include the very sensitive automobile sector. Among the major issues that can be discussed in the 12th round of talks are reduction in duty on vehicles and liquor and issues related to services.
Negotiations continue on investment treaty
In the 12th round of talks, the investment treaty between the two countries is also to be discussed. In fact, bilateral investment treaty is also being discussed between india and Britain. Both the countries want that along with the free trade agreement, the agreement on this investment treaty should also be made simultaneously.
Agreement is expected by the end of 2023
Both countries hope that by the end of 2023, agreement will be reached on the Free Trade Agreement and Investment Treaty. Both the countries want the talks on FTA to be completed soon. It is also being said that india and britain can sign a free trade agreement this year. The reason for this is that both the countries have reached a very close consensus regarding the broad outline of the proposed agreement. Commerce Secretary sunil Barthwal has also said recently that both the countries want to finalize this deal as soon as possible. He also said that negotiations on almost all contentious issues have been completed and the agreement can be signed much before the end of 2023. Commerce Secretary Barthwal says india is pushing for "zero tariffs" for textiles, leather and other labor-intensive manufacturing sectors, while the UK has sought tariff concessions in other sectors.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel