Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a dialog together with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak and mentioned the early conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the United Kingdom. The two leaders additionally affirmed their dedication to additional bolster the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the 2 nations.
“Had a good conversation with PM @RishiSunak. We reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and work for early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement,” PM Modi posted on X.Â
The Prime Minister’s Office mentioned in a press release, “The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continue to strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic partnership. They expressed satisfaction on the progress made under the Roadmap 2030 in diverse areas including trade, investment, defence, security, emerging technologies and others. They assessed positively the progress made towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement.”
It additional added, “The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest. Both leaders agreed to remain in touch and exchanged greetings on the upcoming festive occasion of Holi.”
Notably, India and the UK are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Talks for FTA between India and the UK began in 2022. The thirteenth spherical of negotiations between India and the UK befell from September 18 to December 15, 2023. Earlier in January, throughout Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s go to to the UK, Rishi Sunak expressed hope that the continued FTA negotiations may very well be dropped at a profitable conclusion quickly.
The India-UK Free Trade Agreement was additionally mentioned throughout External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar’s assembly with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on his current go to to the nation in November. Meanwhile, India signed a USD 100 billion Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc on Sunday.
The European Free Trade Association is a commerce organisation and free commerce space consisting of 4 European states- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. As a part of the settlement, EFTA has dedicated to advertise investments to extend the inventory of international direct investments by USD 100 billion in India within the subsequent 15 years, and to facilitate the era of 1 million direct employment in India, by way of such investments.
Prime Minister Modi hailed the free commerce pact, terming it a “watershed moment” within the historical past of ties between the 5 nations, whereas including that it’s a “win win situation” for each international locations. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal co-chaired the assembly on the India-EFTA commerce settlement within the nationwide capital on Sunday.
