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<\/p>\nOfficials from India and the United Kingdom (UK) are working overtime to address the contentious issues related to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations, in a final push to conclude the deal by the year-end.<\/p>\n
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Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal was headed to London on Thursday after completing his four-day visit to Brazil.<\/p>\n
Other key officials from India’s negotiating team will be joining Barthwal in the UK capital, hoping to make headway in the FTA negotiations, which started in January last year, a person aware of the matter told Business Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n Thirteen rounds of negotiations have been completed so far.<\/p>\n The previous round commenced on September 18.<\/p>\n In addition, discussions on some of the issues are also ongoing virtually between both countries.<\/p>\n “UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is anticipated to travel to India again towards the end of this month (weeks after the G20 Leadership Summit) to meet his counterpart, Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n “If the negotiations conclude by then, the agreement could be signed during Sunak’s visit,” the person said.<\/p>\n “There’s an indication that both sides aim to finalise the details of the agreement by the end of the month.<\/p>\n “However, the differences on topics such as mobility and greater market access for whisky, among other issues, remain unresolved,” the person added.<\/p>\n Now that the FTA talks with Canada have been paused, the only significant FTA that India hopes to conclude this year is with the UK.<\/p>\n A trade agreement with the European Union (EU) also appears distant since government officials believe the negotiations will be more intricate and may take at least another year to conclude.<\/p>\n In any case, India will need to finalise the FTA with the UK by the end of this year – before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.<\/p>\n For the UK, a trade agreement with India is essential in its efforts to establish a post-Brexit trade relationship with the world.<\/p>\n To date, India is the largest market with which the UK has committed to negotiating a trade agreement.<\/p>\n The trade agreement has faced several obstacles, whether it was the political upheaval in the UK last year or the pro-Khalistan protests in London.<\/p>\n Elections in key Indian states further decelerated the discussions between both countries.<\/p>\n Some of the disputed issues include India’s request for a liberalised migration policy and the UK’s demands for reduced tariffs on whisky and automobiles, as well as opening up India’s sectors like legal, architecture, and financial services.<\/p>\n Last month, a senior government official said both sides had made “good progress” in the negotiations on the proposed bilateral investment treaty as well as pivotal topics such as the ‘rules of origin’.<\/p>\n “Both nations are aiming for a robust agreement that benefits both parties, and we aren’t restricting ourselves to any specific timeline…There are issues we aim to address promptly,” the official had said.<\/p>\n The UK was India’s 15th largest trade partner during FY23. India exported goods valued at $4.5 billion and imported goods worth $2 billion in the first three months of the current financial year.<\/p>\n