Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK is a high priority for both the countries and the next round of negotiations for the pact is slated to happen next month. He said that things are progressing well and it will yield good results.
Goyal said that industry support is required for the agreement and it should be a fair, equitable and balanced FTA. He also said that there should not be any strict timelines to conclude negotiations for an FTA as such agreements have to be thought through and carefully calibrated and negotiated. He said India and Britain launched negotiations for the FTA in January with an aim to conclude talks by Diwali (October 24), but the deadline was missed due to political developments in the UK.
The minister stated that there are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights. Reduction or elimination of customs duty under the pact would help Indian labour intensive sectors like textiles, leather, and gems and jewellery to boost exports in the UK market. The UK is seeking duty concessions in areas like Scotch whiskey and automobiles. So far, five rounds of talks are already completed between the officials of the two countries till July.
