India’s trade deal with UK ‘very close’, minister says as PM Modi also pledges deeper ties in Greece
- It’s a win-win deal as New Delhi aims to become a bigger exporter, while the UK gets wider access for its whisky, premium cars and legal services
- India and Greece also aim to boost cooperation in areas such as trade and defence as Modi paid the first visit by an Indian premier in 40 years
India hopes to conclude talks over a free trade deal with the United Kingdom by the end of this year, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday, amid consensus on broad contours of the pact meant to boost economic growth and jobs.
“I won’t be wrong in saying a free-trade agreement with UK is very close,” Sitharaman said at an industry conference in New Delhi.
The finance minister’s comments come as the two nations work to agree on issues including intellectual property rights, rules of origin and an investment treaty.
While the two nations are not working with a deadline to close the deal, India is committed to “a good outcome at the fastest possible speed”, the country’s trade minister Piyush Goyal said at a separate press conference on Friday, after a G20 trade ministers gathering in Rajasthan, western India.
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India and the UK will hold another round of discussions over the proposed deal while British trade minister Kemi Badenoch is in India, Goyal added.
A deal between India and the United Kingdom is crucial for New Delhi, which hopes to become a bigger exporter, while the UK would get wider access for its whisky, premium cars and legal services.
Both countries are aiming to double bilateral trade by 2030 via such a deal.
Also on Friday, India and Greece pledged to deepen ties in areas including trade and defence after the first visit by an Indian premier to the southern European nation in four decades.
“Today, the prime minister and I have taken the decision to take the India-Greece partnership to a strategic level,” India’s Narendra Modi said Friday after talks with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in Athens.
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The two countries aim to boost cooperation in defence, security, infrastructure, agriculture, education, technology and skills development to strengthen their strategic partnership, Modi added.
Modi’s visit was the first by an Indian premier to Greece in 40 years, Mitsotakis said, citing a wide range of joint interests. There is potential for bilateral trade to double in coming years, the two leaders agreed. In 2022, the volume was 1.3 billion euros (US$1.4 billion), 58 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier.
India and Greece are also considering establishing direct flights between the two nations, Mitsotakis said.
“We discussed how important it would be to have a direct air connection,” the Greek premier told reporters, adding that his country is Europe’s eastern gateway and India can take advantage of that.
