India United Kingdom FTA Revival in Motion, No New Deadline Established Yet

United Kingdom and India are set to resume their former talks for a free bilateral trade agreement, with the countries' prime ministers agreeing to take the agreement to a healthy surmise soon.

Earlier on, the agreement was said to be accomplished by Diwali. However, this deadline was missed due to the sardonic reactions passed on by Suella Braverman upon Indian-origin Visa overstays. No new deadline has been settled upon by the two governments in contention after Diwali. According to the prior arrangements, India would gain duty cuts for British Alcohol and automobiles with added-on visa flexibilities.

Political changes in the United Kingdom, as well as the sardonic comments passed on by the British home secretary Suella Braverman, upon how Indians are one of the largest groups of visa overstayers in Britain, led to an impasse. "The home secretary's factually incorrect remarks and no prime minister there had bothered us and stalled the progress, but now the formal talks will be revived,."

According to recent reports majority of the chapters in the UK – India FTA have been closed. 'Sixteen chapters across 26 policy areas agreed so far, as reported by Greg Hands, Secretary of state for International Trade.

While most of the negotiations have been profoundly brought to their fruitful surmise, negotiations regarding tariffs on professional, financial, and legal services, tariffs on scotch whiskey, and terms of business visas are still awaited.

"Many exporters are facing considerable tariffs on professional, financial and legal services. (Also,) terms of business visas remain an active area of negotiation," Hands said

Another point that is being given due diligence has been tariff reduction on imported scotch whiskey by India. As of now, the British have been demanding lower tariffs which currently stand at 150%. As per reports after the last time, India has sought time to make this happen.

Some of the most prominent goods and services India Imports from the United Kingdom are.

Goods

1. Refined Oil ( 9.7% of all UK goods imported from India)

2. Clothing (9.6%)

3. Medical and pharmaceutical Products ( 5.6 % )

4. Miscellaneous Metal Manufactures (5.1%)

5. Textile Fabrics (5.0%)

All these products were the primary imports from India to the United Kingdom, but as the pact stands on the brink of being executed after several reconsiderations. A recent list had brought forward 240 odd items which would face trade duty deductions once the agreement is executed. From this pool of 240 things, a few that stand out are Whiskey, Cars, Vaccines, Basmati Rice, Wool, and Tea Premix. As of now, no indication has been released about the possible way out of the situation, but in the coming future, it's possible that the pact might be passed with several reconsiderations and follow-up procedures. As of now, diplomatic negotiations of the highest level are going on in between the countries.

The United Kingdom has been a key investor in India; New Delhi itself attracted foreign direct investment of USD 1.64 billion in 2021-22. The figure was about USD 32 billion between April 2000 and March 2022; it has been clearly evident that the UK sees the huge potential for gains in India in the dynamics of investment and life sciences. According to prerequisite data, the FTA would boost UK's economy by 3 billion pounds by 2035. The FTA would help cut through the red tape necessary for British companies to deal in the markets of India, making trade cheaper to accomplish and sell into India's dynamic market, supporting the creation of jobs and growth.

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