FTA draft before Diwali, says London Mayor

London, September 25

The free trade agreement (FTA) talks between India and the UK have reached the final phase and despite some outstanding issues to be resolved, both sides are optimistic of finalising a draft before the Diwali deadline. PM Modi may visit London to sign the agreement as planned during former British PM Boris Johnson’s visit in April this year.

Vincent Keaveny, the Lord Mayor of London, returned from a four-day visit to India after meeting finance chiefs at the Reserve Bank of India and Securities Exchange Board of India. “It was a really good time to be in India with the FTA negotiations entering into their final phase,” said Keaveny. “PM Modi wants to sign the FTA by Diwali. There are some issues to be resolved but I think there’s a lot of optimism on both sides that we will get that done. Our PM, too, is deeply engaged in international trade,” he said.

“London is Europe’s top fin-tech hub. And India, with its large infra investment requirement of trillions of dollars, is on the way to becoming Asia’s top fin-tech hub,” he said.