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India and the UK have restarted free trade talks, nearly a year after negotiations were paused ahead of general elections in both countries.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s business and trade secretary, met his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal in Delhi on Monday and kicked off the two-day discussions.<\/p>\n
The talks focused on “advancing” the negotiations and ensuring that the deal was “balanced, ambitious and mutually beneficial”, Goyal wrote<\/a> on X. <\/p>\n The countries have held more than a dozen rounds of negotiations since 2022, but an agreement has remained out of reach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sticking points include high tariffs in India on Scotch whisky and relaxing fees and visa rules for Indian students and professionals going to the UK. <\/p>\n Talks are being held for the first time after the Labour Party came to power in the UK and Reynolds says securing a deal is a “top priority” for his government.<\/p>\n “Growth will be the guiding principle in our trade negotiations with India and I’m excited about the opportunities on offer in this vibrant market,” he said in a statement<\/a> ahead of the meeting.<\/p>\n India is forecast to become the world’s third-largest economy in a few years.<\/p>\n The ministers held a joint press conference after the meeting, but neither side offered a deadline for talks to conclude. Deadlines set by former ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss had passed without an agreement being finalised.<\/p>\n For Delhi, the trade talks have assumed renewed significance on the back of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose reciprocal or tit-for-tat tariffs<\/a> on imported goods from countries, including India.<\/p>\n The UK is also a high-priority trading partner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has an ambitious target to grow exports by $1 trillion by FY30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The UK had announced in November<\/a> last year – soon after Sir Keir Starmer met PM Modi at the G20 summit in Brazil – that talks would restart in the new year.<\/p>\n The two countries share a trade relationship worth \u00a341bn ($52bn) currently, according to a UK government statement, and a trade deal could unlock new opportunities for both countries. <\/p>\n London has identified sectors that could benefit, which include advanced manufacturing, clean energy and professional and trade services. An agreement could also potentially unlock a valuable market for British cars, Scotch whisky and financial services worth billions of dollars. <\/p>\n India is seeking greater mobility for its working professionals and students to the UK, while pushing for faster visa processing times.<\/p>\n It may also seek concessions for its residents working temporarily in the UK on business visas, who are required to pay national insurance but are still ineligible for social benefits.<\/p>\n Speaking at the joint conference, Goyal said that immigration was not a part of the discussions.<\/p>\n “India has never ever discussed immigration in any free trade negotiations,” he said. Reynolds added that business mobility was a “separate issue” from immigration.<\/p>\n During Reynolds’ visit, he and Goyal will also visit the BT office in the northern Indian city of Gurugram. <\/p>\n UK Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson is also in India and will be participating in events in India’s two big business hubs – Mumbai and Bengaluru. <\/p>\n After years of scepticism over free trade deals, India has been signing<\/a> agreements or is in talks with several countries or blocs. Last year, it signed<\/a> a $100bn free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association – a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union – after almost 16 years of negotiations.<\/p>\n It is also set to resume negotiations with the European Union this year.<\/p>\n Follow BBC News India on <\/i>Instagram<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>YouTube,<\/i><\/a> <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a> and <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n