IP, tariffs, data protection to dominate UK-India FTA negotiations

"I don't want to give a number, but there should be a parity."

McCole said Intellectual Property (IP) protection and enforcement regime, and data protection are other major areas of concern of UK businesses. "One major area of concern that comes up time and again is data protection rules. The future trade is going to be data-driven. It's going to be technology-driven. I think it's going to be the main driver of trade in the decades to come," he said.

India and UK announced their intention to have a comprehensive free trade agreement during a virtual summit held in May 2021 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson. During the May summit, the two countries agreed on a preliminary "Enhanced Trade Partnership" deal and start the FTA negotiation "in the autumn".

However, the formal FTA negotiation between the two countries has not started yet.

Following the Prime Minister level summit in May the two countries started the "pre-negotiation". It was led from the Indian side by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and from the UK side the then British Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss.

However, the negotiations got delayed after Truss was replaced by Anne-Marie Trevelyan. In September, there was a change in the UK cabinet. Truss was appointed Foreign Secretary, while Trevelyan took charge as Secretary of State for International Trade.

Speaking at the 94th annual convention of industry body FICCI on December 17, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Goyal said the negotiations on the free trade agreement between India and UK would start in January 2022. Earlier this month, a UK government spokesperson also announced that the two countries would start the FTA negotiations early next year.

Asked about the expected timeframe to conclude the FTA deal, McCole said: "There seems to have political will and commitment from both the governments. Negotiating teams are in regular contact. Momentum is there, and I hope the momentum further picking up in the new year."

McCole expressed hope that the issues of the business community of the two countries would be addressed through strong political will and commitment for the deal expressed by the Prime Minister of the two countries.

India and UK share strong economic engagements. Merchandise trade between the two countries stood at USD 15.45 billion in 2019-20 with the trade balance in favour of India.

UK is the 6th largest inward investor in India, after Mauritius, Singapore, Netherlands, Japan, and the US with a cumulative equity investment of USD 28.39 billion (April 2000-June 2020), accounting for around 6 per cent of all foreign direct investment into India.

India invested in 120 projects and created 5,429 new jobs in the UK to become the second-largest source of foreign direct investment after the US in 2019, according to the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) inward investment statistics for 2019-2020.

( With inputs from ANI )

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