Goyal’s visit from Britain to FTA – Goyals Visit to FTA from Britain

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met his counterpart Jonathan Reynolds on a two -day UK visit. This will lead to the free trade agreement (FTA) by resolving long -term pending issues between the two countries. Apart from this, focus is also to be focused on reducing fees, increasing the market access and simplifying trade norms through FTA, imposing US-wise counter-duty. The US has postponed the imposition of country-wise retaliation till 9 July.

This meeting is taking place when the global trade policies are facing widespread changes due to the adoption of US trade protectionist policies. Goyal said on X on Monday, ‘For the purpose of discussing bilateral trade and investment, he came to Britain on a two -day visit. My first program had a meaningful conversation with Britain’s Trade and Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds. This strengthened our commitment to strengthen the economic relations between India-Britain.

Government officials said business talks between India and Britain are reaching close to conclusion. Former Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from Goyal also visited London earlier this month and bilateral trade agreement (BIT) dialogues were encouraged. However, both sides failed to resolve the disputes primarily in pending issues of investment agreement. Apart from this, the Union Budget 2025-26 made some progress towards the current model BIT of India and to encourage continuous foreign investment and announced to make it ‘more investors favorable’.

Apart from BIT, there are some pending issues related to FTA. These pending issues include India’s inclusion of social security agreement and to give more access to Britain in financial services. India has expressed concern over Britain’s introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism by 2027. Britain is negotiating for a low fee on vehicles and vehicles.

India and Britain formally started three -tier conversations in February after about a year – Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and Dual Contribution Conference or Social Security Agreement. Goyal and his British counterpart have held a second meeting after the announcement of the free trade agreement. The Indo-UK FTA talks began in January 2022 and the ambitious target was set to complete the agreement in nine months. However, due to political instability in Britain, various pending issues and general elections in both countries between April and July, the agreement was reached and pending.

First Published – April 28, 2025 | 10:45 pm IST