India, UK resumes FTA negotiations

UK and India have been negotiating an FTA since January 2022 under the previous Conservative-led government.

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal on February 24 said that India and UK have decided to restart negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This comes nearly a year after talks had stalled in May 2024 ahead of the UK general elections.

Notably, Piyush Goyal spoke about restarting FTA talks after meeting UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who is on a three-day visit to India.

"All options are on the table. We are in active negotiations on three different aspects - the FTA, the Bilateral Investment Treaty, and a Double Contribution Convention Agreement. And all three are in parallel and conjoined with each other," Goyal said while speaking at an event.

Goyal added that the aim is to double or triple merchandise bilateral trade between India and UK in the next 10 years through the proposed FTA from the current level of $20 billion.

Reynolds also spoke about the FTA negotiations. "India is a vital partner for UK in an increasingly volatile and multipolar world. We have kickstarted negotiations for UK and India FTA again. Through these talks we want to secure a mutually beneficial agreement," he said.

When asked if the FTA can be expected by this year, Goyal said, "It's never too early and never too late to conclude a good agreement."

"Neither should we rush into things but it is always good to conclude fast. We will have speed but not haste," he said.

Reynolds echoed the sentiment when he said that for UK it is about the quality of the trade agreements rather than the speed of delivering them.

"But there is really an urgency and this is a top priority for the UK government and has strong support from the Prime Minister of UK and key cabinet colleagues," he added.

UK and India have been negotiating an FTA since January 2022 under the previous Conservative-led government. The current Labour Party government too had expressed a desire to continue these talks.

There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments, and intellectual property rights.

Before talks were paused, India was negotiating a few unresolved issues with the previous Conservative-led British government, including on rules of origin, London’s demand for tariff concessions on electric vehicles, and norms about services. So far, 13 rounds of talks have been conducted, with the 14th round still underway.

They were also looking to iron out disagreements over New Delhi seeking easier mobility norms for its services industry.