‘A win-win for both nations’: Minister Piyush Goyal hails resumption of India-UK FTA talks

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday, February 24, said the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks are a “win-win” situation for both nations, as Delhi resumes its trade deal talks with London. 

“We are restarting talks for a forward-looking, transparent, and ambitious India-UK Free Trade Agreement that will be a win-win for both nations,” said Minister Piyush Goyal in a post on X. 

India-UK FTA Deal

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 2024 and decided to resume the trade negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement deal between the two nations.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday officially announced that both governments have resumed their negotiations to form a trade deal between the two nations. 

“India and the United Kingdom have a close partnership, built through collaboration on security and defence, new and emerging technologies, climate, health, education, research and innovation, green finance and people-to-people contacts. At the centre of this relationship is the collective aspiration to deliver economic growth and sustainable development,” the Ministry said in an official statement.

According to the release, both sides have resumed the negotiations and aim to create a balanced and mutually beneficial forward-looking trade deal to foster growth and build the strength of the two nations.

Business visas and UK immigration? 

According to a Moneycontrol report on Monday, the talks under the FTA deal will include India's demand for greater business mobility in the UK. While business visas will be a part of the FTA talks, UK immigration will not be on the agenda, said Goyal at a press briefing. 

“A lot of Indian businesses are invested in the UK, while UK businesses also have a presence in India. So, for all of those, business visas will be required and they will be linked to investments, services that we plan to open up via the proposed FTA,” Goyal was quoted as saying by the news portal. 

According to the report, the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, said that they plan to deal with the immigration factor separately from the FTA talks.