The Indian Commerce Ministry has said that Indian and UK officials will continue their negotiations till the month-end to iron out the differences on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). This meeting will be followed by a review at the higher level.
It is being said that teams are going to continue negotiations till the end of August 2023 which will be followed by stock taking at the higher level. Though there is no deadline to complete this exercise.
The Ministry added that both Chief Negotiators apprised the Ministers about the current state of play, issues outstanding for resolution and their continuous joint efforts to iron out the same.
It is worth mentioning here that UK is a major market for Indian apparel industry and the industry is waiting for the FTA.
Following the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting (TIMM) at Jaipur, the progress of the negotiations was reviewed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK’s Secretary of State for Trade Kemi Badenoch.
While expressing satisfaction over the last 12 rounds of negotiations wherein several chapters have been finalised, both exuded confidence that the next round of talks to be similarly successful.
The Ministers directed the officials to maintain a good pace of exchanges with a better understanding of each other’s aspirations and sensitivities.
