India-UK FTA may be ready by Diwali: Piyush Goyal

The way things are progressing between the two interacting teams,Re Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and United Kingdom Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said during his visit to the UK that could be ready by Diwali without the need for an interim early harvest agreement

Minister arrived from London World Economic Forum in Davos To take stock and interact with stakeholders and businessmen ahead of the fourth round of FTA negotiations scheduled for 13 June in the UK.

During a curtain-raiser on Thursday evening for the annual UK-India Week by the India Global Forum (IGF) to be held from 27 June, Mr Goyal spoke of fast-paced engagements with the UAE and Australia as a sign of things to come. Pointed to the concluded FTA.

“Canada is progressing well towards an early harvest agreement. With the UK, we had agreed to an early harvest agreement – ​​basically, more difficult to grab the low-hanging fruit and move to the next phase To release the elements and give to the people of both the countries believe that this agreement is a victory,” the minister said.

“But the way things are progressing, we are actually doing a full FTA with the UK by Diwali. I have had very good meetings on this,” he said.

Diwali was set as a timeline for the draft of the FTA after the British Prime Minister in October Boris Johnson’s conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India last month.

Indian High Commissioner Gayatri Issar Kumar revealed at the event that Prime Minister Johnson has already invited his Indian counterpart to visit the UK to get ready for the signing of the draft agreement later in the year.

Asked about points of contention along the way to such a tight timeline, Mr Goyal said: “Our approach is that we are very honest and ahead in our odds, yet being sensitive to the concerns of another country. are interested.” The Minister highlighted the “tireless work, study, focus and engagement with the stakeholders” which is essential in the entire process towards an FTA.

“You are really writing the destiny of your business relationship between two countries for the next 30 or 50 years. Especially in this present world where there is so much conflict between countries, so much mistrust…

“When you make a business deal, you’re looking forward to 30-50 years in the future, so you have to be very careful. I can’t afford to make a mistake… Everyone has to be very careful. Lots of things.” One has to do modeling,” he said.

Mr Goyal said India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is growing even at a rate of “a modest 8 per cent every year”, from where the economy will now be at least 10 times.

“This is the opportunity to propose a fair and equitable settlement … which was understood in the UAE and Australia, which is why we were able to close rapidly,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, the minister said he had “productive discussions” on taking forward the ongoing FTA talks to further boost the India-UK trade and investment partnership during talks with his UK counterpart, Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Of.

“We discussed the progress of the ongoing trade talks; Opportunities to unlock the full potential of our trade and commercial relationships already worth over £24 billion; and opening up new markets for businesses in both the UK and India,” Mr Trevelyan said.

The two ministers also co-hosted a “Small Business Roundtable” to discuss the opportunities offered to businesses with an FTA. Mr Goyal will hold further talks with business and industry on Friday during his two-day visit to the UK.

The total trade between India and the UK stood at US$16 billion for the fiscal year 2021-2022 (April-February). According to the latest official data available on the Indian High Commission website here, the United Kingdom was India’s 17th largest trading partner during the fiscal year 2021-2022 (April-February).