India-UK FTA talks likely in Oct; 9th round India-EU FTA talks in Sept

The ninth round of negotiations between India and the European Union (EU) for a proposed FTA is planned during September 23-27 in New Delhi, he announced recently. Both sides will discuss core trade issues covering goods, services, investment and government procurement and necessary rules in this round.

The negotiations with the United Kingdom will start based on the briefings by UK officials to their new ministers about the proposed FTA, Barthwal told reporters in New Delhi.

There are pending issues in both the goods and services sectors, Indian media outlets reported.

Talks had started in January 2022, but the 14th round of talks could not be organised as the two countries entered their general election cycles.

The Indian industry wants more access for its skilled professionals from sectors like information technology and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is seeking a significant cut in import duties on several goods and more opportunities for UK services in Indian markets in segments like telecommunications, legal and financial services.

The two countries are also negotiating a bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

Barthwal said India and Australia are exploring ways to conclude negotiations on a proposed bilateral trade agreement before December. An interim pact, the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), was signed in December 2022 and both sides now want to expand its scope.

Negotiations take time and India is moving forward quite well on all FTAs, except with Canada, he said.

Due to some problems now in Bangladesh, the proposed comprehensive economic partnership agreement with that country will be looked at as the government is waiting and watching developments there, the secretary added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)