India, UK agree on expediting trade pact

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 26

The British Government said it had agreed with India to infuse momentum in talks on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was supposed to be signed by Diwali last year. But the talks got delayed due to political instability and economic trouble in the UK.

“At a meeting with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, both sides agreed to make further progress on the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and deepen bilateral economic and financial ties,” said a UK Treasury Department statement following talks on Saturday between UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and his Indian counterpart Sitharaman on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru.

Both sides had concluded the seventh round of talks earlier this month after the last round held in December last year. “They agreed to make swift progress on setting up the next UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue,” added the statement.

Hunt, who had first visited India 38 years ago, said it was “fascinating to see how much the country has changed in this time — there are positive lessons to be learnt from their successful rapid development”.

On the G20 Outlook Statement, the Treasury Department said it “sent a strong message of condemnation for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, announced an increase of financial support for the Ukrainian government to a total of $39 billion in 2023 and committed to continue supporting vulnerable countries hardest hit by the economic impact of the war”.

Negotiations with the UK started on January 13 last year with an aim to boost bilateral trade and investments. The bilateral trade in 2021-22 was at $17.5 billion.

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