Modi, Sunak reaffirms commitment to conclude India-UK FTA talks at the earliest

PM Modi, Sunak welcome progress in FTA talks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his United Kingdom (UK) counterpart Rishi Sunak reaffirmed their commitment to work towards an "early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement (FTA)."

"Had a good conversation with PM Rishi Sunak. We reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and work for early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement," Modi said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on March 12.

India and the UK have been going the extra mile to close negotiations over the proposed bilateral FTA. A British delegation last week met commerce ministry officials in New Delhi to accelerate talks.

The visit of the British delegation came close on the heels of an Indian team's trip to London, led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Kumar Barthwal late last month, to sort out disagreements over certain aspects of market access.

However, sealing the trade deal before Lok Sabha elections, scheduled between April and May 2024, looks difficult, Moneycontrol reported on March 6 citing an Indian government source.

The UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) on November 20 said the FTA negotiations should conclude before the elections due in both nations.

UKIBC Managing Director Kevin McCole said that though the election date in the UK has not yet been fixed, the polls may be held between May and November 2024, while India is going to polls around April-May this year. There is a risk that the talks may have to pause till the elections in India and the UK are over, he added.

India's commerce ministry on February 15 said that the majority of the chapters in the India-UK FTA are either closed or are at advanced stages of negotiations.

Negotiations between the two nations began on January 2022 with an initial deadline of Diwali 2022. There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights. So far, 14 rounds of talks have been conducted between the two sides