India-UK trade deal: Indian team may visit London to fix pending issues

A team of officials from New Delhi may travel to London to resolve the issues of a long-pending trade deal between India and the United Kingdom (UK).

 

The travel plan is still being finalised, a senior government official said on Saturday.

 

After almost a year-long hiatus, India and the UK formally launched a three-track negotiation in February for a free trade agreement (FTA), bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and double contribution convention or a social security agreement. Thereafter, on March 24, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart reviewed the progress during negotiations.

 

“Currently, the focus is on the BIT. Discussions on BIT are going on. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also in London recently to give further push to the BIT talks,” the official cited above said.

 

Both sides have struggled to iron out differences related to the investment pact, mainly over resolution of disputes. In an attempt to make some progress, the Union Budget 2025-26 announced India’s intention to revamp the current model BIT and make it “more investor-friendly” to encourage sustained foreign investment.

 

Apart from BIT, there are only a few other pending issues in the FTA, the official said.

 

India and the UK are trying to speed up discussions on the trade agreement amid fast-changing geopolitical landscape and America’s protectionist trade policies.

 

India-UK FTA talks were launched 34 months ago under the Conservative government headed by former Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with an ambitious target to seal the deal in nine months. However, political instability in the UK, unresolved differences over various issues and general elections in both nations between April and July 2024 further delayed the fruition of the deal.