During Goyal’s visit, India and the UK decide to give their FTA negotiations a boost

In order to give the current free trade agreement (FTA) discussions more pace, India and the UK have agreed, according to Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

After meeting with his British counterpart, Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, Goyal, who is in the UK for a brief visit, said on Twitter that they had decided to continue working for a win-win agreement. The eleventh round of India and the UK’s FTA negotiations began last Wednesday and is scheduled to end on Friday.

“Held a meeting in London with Kemi Badenoch, the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade. discussed ways for both parties to give the India-UK Free Trade Agreement discussions more pace in order to reach a win-win agreement,” Goyal tweeted.

It happened the day after a UK government source said that the visit by a senior Indian minister during a round of negotiations demonstrated that there was “political will to move forward toward an ambitious trade deal.”

The potential is obvious: a robust trade agreement would increase the UK and India’s economic ties, which will be worth GBP 36 billion by 2022. But the source said, “We won’t sign until we have an agreement that serves the UK’s interests.

Goyal will have extensive talks while in the UK, according to stakeholders close to the negotiations, to boost momentum for the FTA as both parties believe they are near to reaching a deal.

Goyal’s travel to the UK is occurring at a “crucial juncture” when both nations are dedicated to deepening their economic connections and looking into opportunities for increased bilateral commerce, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce last week.

The visit “aims to further propel the discussions and pave the way for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement that would drive economic growth and strengthen ties between the two nations,” the ministry’s statement said. “The FTA negotiations are gaining momentum,” it added.

In addition to meeting with ministers from the EFTA members Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein to discuss the development of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), the visit will also be centered on the ongoing India-UK FTA negotiations.