Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 62
62
Deferred
Paragraph: 209
Pace of UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations must be maintained.
Conclusion
[The UK and India have completed seven rounds of negotiations on the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which should boost trade and investment between the two countries.] We are concerned that the pace of negotiations should be maintained so that agreement can be reached as soon as practicable.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially agrees but responds by discussing the UK's commitment to strengthening national security protections against the CCP and prioritizing national security, not addressing the pace of UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
209
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation to maintain the pace of FTA negotiations to help move talks forward but will not sign an FTA until we have secured a deal in the best interests of the UK. The thirteenth round of negotiations ran from 18 September to 15 December 2023. The fourteenth round of negotiations is taking place this month and intensive talks are ongoing. The Government is also committed to progressing negotiations through senior engagement with the Government of India. The Prime Minister spoke with Prime Minister Modi on 3 November 2023 where they discussed recent progress and agreed on the importance of securing an ambitious deal that benefited both sides. This followed the Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, attending the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting in August. While in Delhi, the Minister met with Shri Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, for the Government of India. The pair discussed ways to progress negotiations towards the FTA and agreed to stay in contact.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗