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India, UK to hold 7th round of talks on FTA in early 2023
The two sides concluded the sixth round of talks on the FTA on December 16, according to a joint outcome statement issued by the British side on Thursday. “The seventh round of official-level negotiations is due to take place in early 2023,” it said
India and the United Kingdom will hold the seventh round of talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) in early 2023, following a visit to New Delhi this month by Britain’s secretary of state for international trade Kemi Badenoch to give a push to the negotiation process.
Badenoch was in India during December 12-13 to initiate the sixth round of negotiations for the UK-India FTA during which she met with union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and also discussed wider trade and investment opportunities for the UK and India.
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The two sides concluded the sixth round of talks on the FTA on December 16, according to a joint outcome statement issued by the British side on Thursday. “The seventh round of official-level negotiations is due to take place in early 2023,” it said.
As with the previous rounds, the sixth round was conducted in a hybrid fashion. A number of British officials travelled to New Delhi for negotiations and others attended virtually.
“Technical discussions were held across 11 policy areas over 28 separate sessions. They included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas,” the statement said.
The two sides had earlier planned to conclude negotiations on the FTA in October this year but were unable to achieve the target because of differences on key issues such as tariffs on whisky and automobiles and mobility of professionals and students, as well as the domestic political turmoil in the UK.
