India, UK kicks-off negotiations for Free Trade Agreement
The UK and India launch negotiations on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement at an event in New Delhi on Thursday. Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met UK's International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan here to formally start talks on a deal that could create huge benefits for both countries.
The agreement will create huge benefits for both countries and could boost our total trade by up to euro 28 billion a year by 2035 and increase wages by up to euro 3 billion across the UK, the release added.
Trevelyan is in New Delhi to officially launch negotiations on a new ambitious free trade deal with the world's biggest democracy.
The UK wants an agreement that slashes barriers to doing business and trading with India's euro 2 trillion economy and market of 1.4 billion consumers, including cutting tariffs on exports of British-made cars and Scotch whisky.
"A trade deal with India's booming economy offers huge benefits for British businesses, workers and consumers," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the statement on Wednesday.
"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," he added.
A deal with India would be a big step forward in the UK's strategy to refocus trade on the Indo-Pacific, home to half of the world's population and 50 per cent of global economic growth. A new economic partnership with India, alongside UK membership of the massive Asia-Pacific trading bloc, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), will create a pillar in the region supporting free and fair trade.