NEW DELHI: India and the UK on Thursday reviewed the progress made in the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with a view to charting out a clear, time-bound roadmap for its finalisation and implementation.
“(Both sides) reiterated our shared goal of implementing the comprehensive and mutually beneficial FTA that reflects the ambitions of both nations,” commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal posted on ‘X’ after meeting UK secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds in London.
The conclusion of FTA negotiations between India and the UK was announced on May 6.
The agreement is getting ready to be signed. Work on documentation is going on and legal scrubbing is in progress. The process will be completed by August -September. After the agreement is signed, it has to be ratified by both countries before it comes into force.
In the UK, the ratification is done by the Parliament and this process could take up to a year. For India, the ratification of agreements is done by the Cabinet. So, it could take up to 15 months from now for the FTA to become operational.
Goyal also participated in a special session on “UK-India Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration” at the Science Museum in London on Thursday. The session explored opportunities for UK stakeholders to contribute to India’s expanding investments in digital public infrastructure, sustainable manufacturing, and green technologies, according to a statement by the ministry of commerce and industry.
Discussions also covered efforts to make India a global manufacturing hub through Make in India, PLI schemes, and enhancing collaboration in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, and creative industries.
The FTA’s role in deepening cooperation in critical technologies, defence production, and advanced manufacturing was also highlighted. The session further examined how innovations like UPI and CoWIN can be scaled globally through bilateral collaboration, the statement added.
Source: The Financial Express
