After 14 rounds of discussions since the talks began in January 2022, the process has now entered its final stages, with officials indicating that deliberations are progressing at an accelerated pace.
The British negotiating team had recently visited India to deliberate over unresolved issues in the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), a separate but related dialogue led by India’s Ministry of Finance.
Sources indicated that the most prominent sticking point in the BIT negotiations remains the mechanism for dispute resolution.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is also expected to visit London next month for a follow-up meeting with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, as per reports.
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The FTA talks had resumed in February this year after an eight-month pause due to elections and changes in the government leadership in the United Kingdom, with the new government freshly assessing the negotiations. Alongside the FTA and BIT, the two nations are also in discussions over a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.
Early harvest pact with EU
Parallel to the UK discussions, India is also advancing trade negotiations with the European Union (EU). Sources said that both sides are considering an “early harvest agreement” covering core trade issues.
This could make possible the discussions of typically contentious areas likely to be addressed later. India had signed a similar early harvest deal with Australia and is now negotiating a comprehensive pact.
“We are discussing with the EU what can be the early harvest or the first tranche where we can do a deal faster than if we involve all the kinds of subjects which are involved in the free trade agreement with the EU,” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal had said on Tuesday, April 15, reported The Indian Express.
The 11th round of India-EU FTA negotiations is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from May 12-16, sources confirmed.
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India’s recent efforts align with broader shifts in global trade dynamics. As developed economies such as the United States and EU, push for stricter norms, India is seeking to ensure that its trade partnerships yield equitable benefits.
“We will be expanding our trading relations with countries where we get a fair deal, where we can have equitable and balanced free trade agreements, where India’s gains commensurate with what we are offering, a large market of 1.4 billion people, growing market, the world’s fastest growing economy,” Goyal had said at the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) Conclave 2025 on April 16.