First round of India-UK free trade agreement negotiations complete

The second round of negotiations is scheduled to take place from 7 to18 March

India and the United Kingdom on Friday concluded the first round of negotiation, as  part of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations, according to a statement.

The negotiations were held virtually for over weeks and saw the coming together of technical experts from both countries for discussions in 32 separate sessions covering 26 policy areas.

It included areas such as trade in goods and services—including financial services and telecommunications, investment, intellectual property, customs, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, gender, sustainability, geographical indicators, among others.

The second round of negotiations is scheduled to take place from March 7-18.

“The negotiations reflected our ambition to secure a comprehensive deal to boost trade between the 5th and 6th largest economies in the world. The positive discussions in round one have laid the groundwork for the UK and India to make positive and efficient progress,” the statement said.

Earlier this month, India and the UK formally launched negotiations for an FTA with an aim to first complete an interim agreement by mid-April and subsequently a comprehensive deal by the end of the year.