India, UK ‘pretty much on board’ on most of the issues: Piyush Goyal on trade deal

While India is optimistic about closing the long-awaited trade deal with the UK, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal asked Britain to not put a gun to India’s head by imposing a deadline. 

According to a report in the Financial Times, Goyal said that past discussions showed that both the parties were “pretty much on board” on most of the issues they discussed. He said that a deal may “close very quickly”. 

However, Goyal, highlighting former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to declare that a deal would be finalised within six months in 2022, said that India does not believe there should be a deadline for negotiations. 

“We never discuss any FTA with any country or group of countries with a gun to our head,” said Goyal to the financial daily. 

Goyal, on the day of the UK's elections, said that the Labour Party had assured they would continue the negotiations, but highlighted the importance of an “equitable, fair and balanced” deal. He was non-committal about when the deal would close. Goyal said it could close quickly or could take long also. 

“Personally if you ask me, in the FTA I don’t find any big issue left, except that we have opened up very significantly on the services side, contingent to certain commitments that we expect from the UK,” he told the daily, adding that India’s population size, different aspiration levels and growth projections require a fair balance in the deal. 

Talks between India and the UK for a trade deal have been on since January 2022. The newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a call after the election victory that he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. 

The UK seeks lower Indian tariffs on exports such as whiskey and cars, with relaxation of rules that restrict its financial and professional services firms from operating in India. India, on the other hand, wants market access for goods such as textiles, as well as better terms for citizens to work and study in the UK. India wants the UK to reflect on the growth opportunities it will benefit from in the world’s most populous country that is expected to grow more than 7 per cent this year.