The India-UK negotiations on free trade agreement are entering the final phase, with top trade officials from the UK travelling to India in batches in the second half of this month, to close the outstanding issues before the deal could be inked.
“Last round of negotiation was very intense and out of 26 chapters/policy areas 19 got closed. Now there are few issues left. So our target is that we close the issues with the UK when the UK teams visit us in India and we are very hopeful that the issues will be sorted out,’ Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said.
Till date 11 rounds of negotiations on the FTA have been held and the 12th round is on. It will continue till July 25. During this period the top trade officials and Trade Minister would be in India to attend the G-20 Trade and Investment Working Group meeting that would be held between August 21st to August 25th.
After the trade and investment working group meeting in Jaipur both the countries would sit down to sort out the issues regarding the FTA in New Delhi.
The secretary said many countries are approaching India for FTA. “We have started talks with Peru while Chile has also shown interest. Demand for review of the existing trade agreement with Asean has come and we are looking at it,” he said.
Even neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have shown interest in signing an FTA.
He said India is now looking at signing FTAs with countries keeping in mind the future requirement for critical minerals for India’s energy transition that would require batteries and for strategic consideration.
“Some of the smaller countries from the point of view of securing critical minerals. From Peru and Chile there is a good possibility of securing critical mineral supply because it will help us in our energy transition when we go for battery making,” Barthwal said.
In Australia trade agreement talks are also happening on smooth supplies of critical minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite which are the key minerals used in batteries.
“So, in addition to trade, now, we are looking at FTAs from the point of view of our strategic considerations. So, that is the fresh approach that we are taking in our FTAs,” he said.
“India is now open to do ambitious FTAs ..this spirit is catching up with the countries.”