Foreign Secretary David Lammy is set to visit India on Tuesday to revisit the parameters of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. Talks began in January 2022 under the Conservative government to enhance the GBP 38.1 billion annual bilateral trade but were paused during the fourteenth round due to general elections in both countries.
A report in ‘The Daily Telegraph’ quoted a New Delhi source indicating India seeks clarity on whether the Labor government will continue from where the previous negotiations left off or start anew. “India is keen to resume talks on a positive note, but the date needs clarity,” the source said.
David Lammy recently addressed the India Global Forum (IGF) in London, expressing his intent to finalize the deal quickly. “My message to [Finance] Minister [Nirmala] Sitharaman and [Trade] Minister [Piyush] Goyal is that Labor is ready to go. Let’s finally get our free trade deal done and move on,” he said, referring to former prime minister Boris Johnson’s missed Diwali 2022 deadline.
Regarding visas, high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami clarified that it is not India’s priority in the FTA talks. “What we’re trying to do with this free trade agreement is to increase the depth or the extent of ambition, including in goods and services, that we’d like to offer to the UK. Visas are not the first priority for us in an FTA. We are not looking at the FTA as a means to bring people to the UK, that is not the objective. What we’re looking for is whatever is reasonable within the broad framework of international trade and services under Mode 4 of GATS [General Agreement on Trade in Services of the World Trade Organization] to be able to have persons traveled for intercompany transfers etc.”
The Labor Party’s manifesto pledged to seek a “new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change.” Lammy’s visit to India next week, en route to the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is expected to set the tone for realizing this pledge.
