India and the United Kingdom will restart freezing talks on Monday, almost a year after the negotiations were interrupted before the general elections in the two countries.
Jonathan Reynolds, secretary of business and trade in the United Kingdom, is in Delhi, where he will meet his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal to launch the two-day discussions.
Before the meeting, Reynolds said it was an “evidence” to seek a trade agreement with India, which was to become the third world economy in a few years.
The countries have organized more than a dozen series of negotiations since 2022, but an agreement has remained out of reach.
The snack points include high prices in India on Scottish whiskey and requests for relaxing visa costs and rules for students and Indian professionals going to the United Kingdom.
Conferences are underway for the first time after the power of the Labor Party in the United Kingdom and that Reynolds said that the conclusion of an agreement is an “absolute priority” for his government.
“Growth will be the guiding principle of our commercial negotiations with India and I am enthusiastic about the opportunities offered on this dynamic market,” he said in a press release.
For Delhi, the commercial talks have taken a renewed meaning for the decision of the American president Donald Trump to impose reciprocal or titat-form prices on goods imported from countries, including India.
The United Kingdom is also a high priority trading partner for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has an ambitious target to increase exports by $ 1 Billion per FY30.
The United Kingdom had announced in November of last year – shortly after Sir Keir Starmer met Prime Minister Modi at the G20 summit in Brazil – that talks would reddemnate the new year.
The two countries share a commercial relationship worth 41 billion pounds Sterling ($ 52 billion) currently, according to a press release from the British government, and a trade agreement could unlock new opportunities for both countries.
London has identified sectors that could benefit from it, in particular advanced manufacturing, clean energy and professional and commercial services. An agreement could also unlock a precious market for British cars, Scottish whiskey and financial services worth billions of dollars.
India is looking for greater mobility for its professionals and students who work in the United Kingdom, while pushing for the treatment of faster visas.
He can also look for concessions for his residents working temporarily in the United Kingdom on commercial visas, which are required to pay national insurance but which are always unacceptable to benefits.
During the visit of Reynolds, he and Goyal will also visit the BT office in the northern city of Gurugram.
The British Minister of Investments Poppy Gustafsson is also in India and will participate in events in the two large companies in India – Mumbai and Bengaluru.
After years of skepticism on the free trade agreements, India has signed agreements or is in talks with several countries or blocks. Last year, he signed a free trade agreement of $ 100 billion with the European free trade association – a group of four European countries which are not members of the European Union – after nearly 16 years of negotiations.
He should also resume negotiations with the European Union this year.
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