India, UK likely to hold next round of talks on proposed trade agreement in October: Sunil Barthwal
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Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that India and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement in October to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations. He said the officials of the UK are briefing their new ministers about the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). The two sides have already taken stock of the progress of talks at secretary and minister levels.
He stated ‘The briefings are going on in the UK...they are briefing their new ministers and based on that, the negotiations will start. We are hoping that in October, the negotiations should resume.’ He also said India is progressing on all FTAs, but there are certain things which are not in control of anyone.
The India-UK talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. Due to the elections in India and Britain, both the countries lost that period. There are pending issues in both the goods and services sectors.
The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, electric vehicles, lamb meat, chocolates and certain confectionary items.
