UK, India Resume FTA Talks; Goyal Says India Has More Flexibility To Cut Tariffs

The United Kingdom and India on Monday formally resumed negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries, with bilateral trade aimed to grow two to three times the current levels in the next 10 years.

In a joint briefing by Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Department for Business and Trade, UK, the two added that the countries will look to speed up negotiations.

"Talks were paused due to elections in the UK, but now the stars are aligned, just like Coldplay's ‘A Sky Full Of Stars'," Goyal said, referring to British pop band Coldplay and their lead singer Chris Martin.

"We're confident we'll be able to make rapid progress... we will build on the strong groundwork of 14 previous rounds; the FTA will be forward-looking, transformational, and ambitious," he added.

Reynolds said that India is a "vital partner" to the UK in "an increasingly polarised world."

"This is an excellent place to start; both parties want more... the mission is to put pounds back in people's pockets, drive economic growth, and this deal will be mutually beneficial," he said.

On the timeline, Goyal said it's never too early or late to "conclude a good agreement."

"We'll have speed, but not haste," he said, with Reynolds adding that the quality of the agreement is what matters, but there's real "urgency" from both sides as well.

Goyal added that the aim is to grow bilateral trade between the two countries by two to three times in the next 10 years. The current India-UK bilateral trade stands at roughly 40.9 billion pounds.

The minister also shed light on the three deal negotiations currently underway.

"We're in active negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), the bilateral investment treaty (BIT), and the double contribution convention agreement (DCAA)... all options are on the table and the three are parallel, conjoint with each other," he added.

Hot Button Items: Tariffs and Visas

When asked about immigration as a talking point between the two countries, Goyal said that immigration has never been a part of trade negotiations.

"India has never discussed immigration in its FTA talks," adding that business mobility visas is a separate chapter.

"We're opening up services in a big way. There are number of large business groups such as Tatas, Piramal and Ruias invested in the England, and vice versa... if there will be more investments from both sides, there will be more business visas," he said.

On the current tariff concerns, Goyal said that India has much more flexibility to cut tariffs on UK.