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Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK are progressing at a faster pace. He said the agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries.

The minister said 'India has signed a trade pact with the UAE in a record time and now our talks with the UK is moving at a faster pace’. In such pacts, two or more countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms for promoting trade in goods and investments. In January, India and the UK formally launched talks for a free trade agreement. They have set the deadline for concluding talks by Diwali.

Goyal further said India is also negotiating similar pacts with Canada, European Union (EU), and Israel, and added that several other nations have shown keen interest in negotiating trade agreements with India. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) want to negotiate these pacts. However, he said that the commerce ministry does not have enough resources to simultaneously negotiate a free trade pact with more nations.