UK Trade Secy Jonathan Reynolds-led team may travel to Delhi on Feb 24
Govt holding inter-ministerial consultations following new US policies
Goyal is on a visit to Brussels for a High-Level Dialogue with Maros Sefcovic from January 18-20
A major hurdles in the way of talks has been EU's stance on sustainable development, since trade bloc is set to implement regulations such as CBAM, deforestation regulation law, and supply chain law
In the nine months to October, HSBC's UK unit received 36 per cent more business client referrals from its arm in India
The two countries entered into FTA negotiations 14 years ago, but talks stalled after 10 rounds of discussions, and no formal round of negotiations has been held since February 2015
India has also been working to finalise free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and trade blocs like the European Union, facing immense pressure to reduce tariffs
Speaking at an event, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke about India's resilience and post-Covid recovery along with its careful stance on free trade agreements
FTAs need to take a holistic view of the commercial significance they hold for the country and emphasise the importance of looking at goods, services, and investment together
India and the UK would seek to bridge the differences for expeditious conclusion of the proposed free trade agreement as Britain has announced resuming the negotiations early next year, an official statement said on Wednesday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that trade talks with India will relaunch in the new year, following his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Brazil. Starmer and Modi met on the sidelines of the summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, after which Downing Street said the UK will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a trade agreement. The India-UK talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. "We welcome the announcement by the UK to relaunch the India-UK free trade talks in the new year," the commerce ministry said. Noting the importance for securing a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward .
The UK's trading relationship with India was worth £42 billion in the 12 months to June 2024
Government officials said that the negotiations were completed earlier in March and revising India's offer would mean restarting inter-ministerial consultations to firm up India's revised stance
The government is seeking to revive a decade-old proposal to streamline FTA negotiations, especially in the backdrop of imbalanced deals with a couple of trade partners
Indian officials still tend to think of trade as a zero-sum game, with tariffs as the only real levers
Goyal also said that extraneous issues such as labour and climate change should be discussed on international forums
A trade deal could be concluded swiftly if sensitivities were respected on both sides, Goyal told the Asia-Pacific conference of German business in the Indian capital
New-age FTAs include clauses on environmental and labour regulations
Standard operating procedure will take into account strategy towards modern FTA issues such as environment, labour, and digital trade
Delphin and Goyal also highlighted the need to resolve constraints and regulatory hurdles faced by companies while doing business in India and the EU, respectively
India is revising FTAs with South Korea, Malaysia and various other ASEAN countries to benefit the domestic industries, Union Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said on Monday. At the 64th annual session of ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association) here, he noted that the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK and the European Union are being spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It will play a great role for the auto components industry," the minister said. He further said: "We are also revising and reworking our FTAs with Korea, with Malaysia, with ASEAN countries, which will be fine-tuned to the demands of our industry." Prasada also urged the auto components industry to increase investment in R&D activities. "We are not investing enough in R&D, I believe this is 1 per cent of the revenue that is being invested so this is very crucial," he noted. He also emphasised the importance of boosting exports, reducing import ..