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The sixth round of talks between senior officials of India and the UK for the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will begin here from Monday, with an aim to conclude the talks at the earliest, an official said.
The talks are taking place after a short hiatus due to recent political developments in the UK.
The final round of talks took place on 29th July.
The official said, “The sixth round of talks is starting from December 12.
Trade in goods, including passenger vehicles, is among the areas under negotiation, which began on January 13, 2022.
In a free trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. The UK side is seeking duty concessions in the automobile sector.
Last month, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the agreement was a high priority for both countries. He added that things are progressing well and will yield good results.
“We all know very well that it was progressing very quickly until we were slightly overturned by political events in another country… We have a stable government… now in office (in the UK) and I have already Am in touch with my (UK) counterpart. We are working together to possibly meet in person soon but our teams are already engaged. Next month, the next round of talks will take place,” Goyal said.
India and Britain began negotiations for an FTA in January with the aim of concluding negotiations by Diwali (October 24), but the deadline was missed due to political developments in the UK. The agreement has 26 chapters, covering goods, services, investment and intellectual property rights.
The reduction or elimination of customs duties under this agreement will help Indian labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, gems and jewelery to increase exports to the UK market. The UK is seeking duty concessions in sectors such as Scotch whiskey and automobiles.
Bilateral trade between the two countries has increased to USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22 from USD 13.2 billion in 2020-21. In 2021-22, India’s exports were USD 10.5 billion, while imports were USD 7 billion.
India’s major exports to the UK include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment and parts, spices, metal products, machinery and equipment, pharma and marine products.
Major imports include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, professional equipment, non-ferrous metals, chemicals and machinery.
The UK is also a key investor in India. New Delhi attracted USD 1.64 billion foreign direct investment in 2021-22. Between April 2000 and March 2022, the figure was about USD 32 billion.
In the services sector, the UK is one of Europe’s largest markets for Indian IT services.
(This story has not been edited by DevDiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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