The interrupted India-UK FTA negotiations are expected to restart again. The talks have already missed the Diwali deadline, due to the apprehensions raised by Home Secretary Suella Braverman regarding the “open borders migration policy” with India…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to newly appointed UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday and congratulated him on taking charge as UK PM. Both leaders spoke about working together to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and UK and also agreed to conclude the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as soon as possible.
“Glad to speak to @RishiSunak today. Congratulated him on assuming charge as UK PM. We will work together to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We also agreed on the importance of early conclusion of a comprehensive and balanced FTA,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also thanked Prime Minister Modi for his kind words and expressed excitement about the future endeavors of the two democracies in deepening security, defense, and economic partnership.
The interrupted India-UK FTA negotiations are expected to restart again as Rishi Sunak takes over as the new Prime Minister. The negotiations have already missed the Diwali deadline, due to the apprehensions raised by Home Secretary Suella Braverman regarding the “open borders migration policy” with India.
Rishi Sunak has reappointed Braverman as Home Secretary and she may again pose a challenge to the deal. Her main contentions regarding open borders not being at variance with “what people voted for with Brexit,” and calling India as the largest group of people who “overstay visas,” are not taken well in the Indian power corridors.
However, in July, Rishi Sunak talked about benefiting Indian nationals with a change in Visa policy. “Our plan over time is to expand what we consider to be markers of high-potential individuals. The qualifying criteria for that visa (which applies to university students) will expand over time and will benefit Indian nationals. It’s an incredibly generous and powerful visa that will benefit Indian citizens who are studying at any of these global universities,” he said.
India and UK launched FTA negotiations in January this year and it is intended to cover 90% of the trade tariffs between both countries. The FTA aims to double the bilateral trade to about $100 billion by 2030. Currently, the trade between both countries in dominated by services which accounts for almost 70% of the total trade.
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