Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ink the India–UK Free Trade Agreement with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his two-day visit to London. The pact aims to boost bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030, with major tariff cuts on Indian textiles and UK whisky and automobiles.
India–UK Free Trade Agreement to be signed during PM Modi's UK visit on July 24 (Image:DC)
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the long-pending free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom, which is scheduled to be inked in London on July 24 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. The deal will take place during his four-day visit to the UK and Maldives, beginning Wednesday, according to the official sources.
Modi is scheduled to travel to the UK on July 23-24 for meetings with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, and then to the Maldives during July 25-26. "Both visits are opportunities to strengthen ties in a wide range of areas, especially trade, investment, defence and security, foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing on Tuesday.
The sources, however, said, post-signing, the FTA will require ratification by the British Parliament before it can come into effect. The pact, formally called a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which was finalised on May 6 after multiple rounds of negotiations between two countries. "Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will accompany the Prime Minister to London for the formal signing," the sources said.
UK PM Starmer, the sources said, is expected to host Modi and his team at Chequers, the country residence of the British prime minister located 50 km northwest of London. "The commerce ministers of the two sides – Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds – are expected to sign the FTA that was finalised on May 6," the sources added.
The trade agreement, however, seeks to remove taxes on exports of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and apparel, and to make imports of whisky and cars from the UK cheaper, as both sides target doubling bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030. Besides, the pact includes provisions on goods, services, innovation, government procurement, and intellectual property rights among others.
The FTA is expected to increase two-way trade from the current level of almost $58 billion by $34 billion in the long run, according to a fact sheet from the UK. It is expected that India will get tariff elimination on 99 per cent of its tariff under the deal, covering nearly 100 per cent of trade value.
However, the UK may get reduced tariffs on 90 per cent of British tariff lines, including the cutting of levies on whisky, automobiles, lamb and medical devices. Labour-intensive sectors such as Indian textiles and apparel will get acompetitive advantage against countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
( Source : Asian Age )
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