UK launches free trade agreement negotiations with India

London, January 13

The UK government on Thursday announced the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, describing it as a “golden opportunity” to put British businesses at the “front of the queue” of the Indian economy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said an FTA would take the country’s historic partnership with India to the next level, and highlighted Scotch whisky, financial services and cutting-edge renewable technology among some of the key sectors set to benefit.

The first round of negotiations is expected to start next week which, the British government said, would make it the UK’s quickest start of formal talks between negotiating teams following a launch.

“A trade deal with India’s booming economy offers huge benefits for British businesses, workers and consumers. As we take our historic partnership with India to the next level, the UK’s independent trade policy is creating jobs, increasing wages and driving innovation across the country,” Johnson said.

“The UK has world-class businesses and expertise we can rightly be proud of, from Scotch whisky distillers to financial services and cutting-edge renewable technology. We are seizing the opportunities offered in growing economies of the Indo-Pacific to cement our place on the global stage and deliver jobs and growth at home,” he said.

Johnson’s statement came as his Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, prepared to meet with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi for the 15th UK-India Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to review the progress within the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership agreed to last May by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Johnson.

“A deal with India is a golden opportunity to put UK businesses at the front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly,” Trevelyan said.

“By 2050, India will be the world’s third-largest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drinks to services and automotive,” she said.

“As an independent, deal-making nation, the UK is broadening our economic horizons and forging stronger partnerships with the fastest-growing economies of the world. India marks the start of our ambitious five-star year of UK trade and will show how the deals we negotiate will boost the economies across all nations and help level up all regions of the UK,” said the minister who is scheduled for bilateral talks with senior Indian Cabinet ministers before she concludes her two-day visit to the country on Thursday.

An India-UK FTA is billed in the UK as creating huge benefits for both countries, with the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to GBP 28 billion a year by 2035 and increase wages by up to GBP 3 billion across the UK.

A deal with India is also pegged as a “big step forward” in the UK’s post-Brexit strategy to refocus trade on the Indo-Pacific, home to half of the world’s population and 50 per cent of global economic growth.