India trade deal could boost trade by billions

NEW DELHI, India : The first day of talks between the UK and India on a potential free trade agreement took place in New Delhi and could lead to the signing of an agreement by the end of the year, which could boost trade by billions of British pounds.

Piyush Goyal, Indian trade minister, and his UK counterpart, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said in a joint statement that a limited agreement could be implemented in the next few months.

The UK wants to tap into fast-growing economies, so it is prioritizing a post-Brexit deal with India.

Trevelyan said that this is an opportunity that we must take advantage of to steer our partnership along the path of mutual prosperity for the decades to come.

The agreement could double its exports to India and boost total annual trade between the two countries by 28 billion by 2035, compared to 23 billion in 2019 according to the UK.

India wants to see more opportunities for Indians to live and work in the UK, and any trade deal could involve negotiations on relaxing rules and lowering fees for Indian students and professionals.

Goyal said that India will not make such issues a condition for a trade deal, and that nothing is necessarily a deal-breaker in this agreement. I will not think there is any way for anyone to worry about issues that are sensitive to any country, because both sides have agreed that sensitive issues are not our priority. UK government ministers want India to purchase more UK green technology and British services, as well as allow British firms to sell more products, such as whiskey, to India.