News Analysis India

Tag: Free Trade Agreement

  • Ensure security of India’s diplomatic missions, EAM Jaishankar tells UK minister

    ENS & Agencies

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakr on Monday told visiting British Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad that Britain was obliged to ensure the security of India’s diplomatic missions in the UK and prevent misuse of democratic freedoms.

    “Met with UK MOS Lord @tariqahmadbt today in New Delhi. Discussed a broad range of issues, from FTA and South Asia to Indo-Pacific and G20. Underlined the obligation to ensure security of our diplomatic missions and prevent misuse of democratic freedoms,” Jaishankar said in a tweet after his meeting with Lord Ahmad.

    Jaishankar’s assertions during a meeting with Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, came against the backdrop of the vandalisation of the Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan supporters on March 19. 

    In April, the Union Home Ministry had handed over the probe in the case of attack on the Indian mission in London to the National Investigation Agency after a meeting with representatives from Britain.

    Jaishankar said he also discussed a broad range of issues ranging from the Free Trade Agreement and South Asia to Indo-Pacific and G20 with the visiting minister.

    Meanwhile, Lord Ahmad said that India and UK share a long friendship and common values. 

    “Delighted to meet with my dear friend Dr Jaishankar in Delhi. We discussed the importance of strengthening of our long-standing bilateral relations and progressing the FTA,” he tweeted.

    “Building on the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations, we are deepening our collaboration on science, technology, bringing new innovations to both our nations,” said Lord Ahmad.

    During the course of the day, Ahmad also met Foreign Secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla amongst others.

    Ahmad will now head to Hyderabad after visiting Jodhpur and New Delhi as part of his ongoing tour of the nation.

    India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA since January last year, with a goal towards a comprehensive pact that is expected to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship worth an estimated GBP 34 billion in 2022.

    According to UK government statistics, India was the UK’s 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade.

    (With additional inputs from PTI)

    NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakr on Monday told visiting British Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad that Britain was obliged to ensure the security of India’s diplomatic missions in the UK and prevent misuse of democratic freedoms.

    “Met with UK MOS Lord @tariqahmadbt today in New Delhi. Discussed a broad range of issues, from FTA and South Asia to Indo-Pacific and G20. Underlined the obligation to ensure security of our diplomatic missions and prevent misuse of democratic freedoms,” Jaishankar said in a tweet after his meeting with Lord Ahmad.

    Jaishankar’s assertions during a meeting with Lord Ahmad, the Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, came against the backdrop of the vandalisation of the Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan supporters on March 19. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    In April, the Union Home Ministry had handed over the probe in the case of attack on the Indian mission in London to the National Investigation Agency after a meeting with representatives from Britain.

    Jaishankar said he also discussed a broad range of issues ranging from the Free Trade Agreement and South Asia to Indo-Pacific and G20 with the visiting minister.

    Meanwhile, Lord Ahmad said that India and UK share a long friendship and common values. 

    “Delighted to meet with my dear friend Dr Jaishankar in Delhi. We discussed the importance of strengthening of our long-standing bilateral relations and progressing the FTA,” he tweeted.

    “Building on the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations, we are deepening our collaboration on science, technology, bringing new innovations to both our nations,” said Lord Ahmad.

    During the course of the day, Ahmad also met Foreign Secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla amongst others.

    Ahmad will now head to Hyderabad after visiting Jodhpur and New Delhi as part of his ongoing tour of the nation.

    India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA since January last year, with a goal towards a comprehensive pact that is expected to significantly enhance the bilateral trading relationship worth an estimated GBP 34 billion in 2022.

    According to UK government statistics, India was the UK’s 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade.

    (With additional inputs from PTI)

  • Will push for India-EU FTA though it’s unlikely to happen in 2023: Swedish Minister

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: India and EU have recently concluded the third round of negotiations for the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Sweden is taking over the EU Presidency in a few weeks’ time and working on the FTA will be among their topmost priorities.

    “India is significant for us and that’s the reason it is the first country that I have travelled to outside of Europe. We are soon going to be taking over the EU Presidency and among the things foremost on our mind is to get the FTA moving faster. We will broker the deal which should be based on trust. And as of now, I don’t see the FTA coming through in our Presidency as there are 27 EU members nations that have to work out an agreement with India,” said Johan Forssell, Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. He added that they hoped for a comprehensive FTA for which negotiations could take longer.

    Forssell was in India with a 15-member trade delegation which comprised CEOs of leading Swedish companies that included SAAB, Astra Zeneca, and Volvo among others.

    Though Forssell didn’t spell out the possible roadblocks in the negotiations, he did say that easing of tariffs would help trade. The minister also met with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and said he was hoping that there would be ease of doing business which would enable more Swedish companies to invest in India. 

    There are over 250 Swedish companies in India, including Erricsson, Volvo, SKF, Sandvik, Ikea and Volvo to name a few.

    “The bilateral trade between India and Sweden has been on the upswing. In 2021 the commodity exports from Sweden to India was Kroner 11.5 billion and services was Kroner 5.8 billion. Exports from India to Sweden were Kroner 8.5 billion and services Kroner 16.5 billion,” said an official from Sweden.

    Meanwhile, India and Sweden will be celebrating 75 years of diplomatic ties with each other in 2023. Sweden is also in the process of assisting India in green transistion and infrastructure in medical technology. The sectors of collaboration were defence, healthcare and security, Forssell pointed.

    Regarding India’s continuous and increasing import of fossil fuel from Russia, Forssell said that every country must take its own decision.

    “We are hoping that the war ends soon and have just sent a winter package to Ukraine. A lot of work will have to be done there in terms of reconstruction. We are completely in sync with what Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has said, ‘that this is no time for war’,” Forssell added. 

    NEW DELHI: India and EU have recently concluded the third round of negotiations for the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Sweden is taking over the EU Presidency in a few weeks’ time and working on the FTA will be among their topmost priorities.

    “India is significant for us and that’s the reason it is the first country that I have travelled to outside of Europe. We are soon going to be taking over the EU Presidency and among the things foremost on our mind is to get the FTA moving faster. We will broker the deal which should be based on trust. And as of now, I don’t see the FTA coming through in our Presidency as there are 27 EU members nations that have to work out an agreement with India,” said Johan Forssell, Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade. He added that they hoped for a comprehensive FTA for which negotiations could take longer.

    Forssell was in India with a 15-member trade delegation which comprised CEOs of leading Swedish companies that included SAAB, Astra Zeneca, and Volvo among others.

    Though Forssell didn’t spell out the possible roadblocks in the negotiations, he did say that easing of tariffs would help trade. The minister also met with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and said he was hoping that there would be ease of doing business which would enable more Swedish companies to invest in India. 

    There are over 250 Swedish companies in India, including Erricsson, Volvo, SKF, Sandvik, Ikea and Volvo to name a few.

    “The bilateral trade between India and Sweden has been on the upswing. In 2021 the commodity exports from Sweden to India was Kroner 11.5 billion and services was Kroner 5.8 billion. Exports from India to Sweden were Kroner 8.5 billion and services Kroner 16.5 billion,” said an official from Sweden.

    Meanwhile, India and Sweden will be celebrating 75 years of diplomatic ties with each other in 2023. Sweden is also in the process of assisting India in green transistion and infrastructure in medical technology. The sectors of collaboration were defence, healthcare and security, Forssell pointed.

    Regarding India’s continuous and increasing import of fossil fuel from Russia, Forssell said that every country must take its own decision.

    “We are hoping that the war ends soon and have just sent a winter package to Ukraine. A lot of work will have to be done there in terms of reconstruction. We are completely in sync with what Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has said, ‘that this is no time for war’,” Forssell added.
     

  • India-UK trade deal on ‘verge of collapse’ over visa comments: Report

    By PTI

    LONDON: The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the “verge of collapse” after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday.

    The Times’ newspaper quoted government sources to say that ministers in New Delhi were “shocked and disappointed “by the “disrespectful” remarks made by Braverman, who said she had concerns of an “open borders” offer to India as part of an FTA.

    The likelihood of meeting the Diwali deadline for the pact, set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now believed to be diminishing.

    “There’s still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the [UK] government it will paralyse the talks,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

    Last week, Braverman, the Indian-origin Home Secretary said in an interview that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of visa overstayers.

    “I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she told ‘The Spectator’ weekly news magazine.

    Asked about visa flexibility for students and entrepreneurs under an India-UK FTA, she said: “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country, the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

    “We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well.”

    Braverman was referencing the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) clinched between her predecessor in the Home Office, Indian-origin former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar in May last year.

    The Indian High Commission here responded by pointing out that action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the MMP.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else ” financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask.

    And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask, a senior UK government source told ‘The Times’.

    “They were apoplectic. Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how angry they are,” noted another.

    While the perception is that Braverman is on a collision course with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is keen to clinch the FTA by the Diwali deadline, the report indicates that both are aligned on the issue of migration.

    Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, met Truss at Downing Street on Tuesday evening after which he tweeted: “Delighted and honoured to greet the PM Liz Truss at the 10 Downing Street this evening and to seek her guidance to build the very special India-UK partnership in trade, investment, defence and through the Living Bridge.”

    Strategic experts on both sides are now of the view that if the Diwali deadline for the FTA is still met, the result would be a much less comprehensive deal than was expected, leaving key sectors open for future negotiations.

    UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch seemed to lay the groundwork for this last week, when she said that an FTA with India would not mean that “we can’t do even more later”.

    The Department for International Trade (DIT) reiterated the UK stance that it would not sacrifice quality for speed.”

    It said: “We have a close, positive working relationship with India and a thriving trade partnership worth GBP 24 billion in 2021. We continue to seek improvements to our current trading relationship. This is why we are negotiating a high-ambition free trade agreement.”

    “We remain clear that we won’t sacrifice quality for speed, and will only sign when we have a deal that meets both countries’ interests,” it added.

    LONDON: The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is reportedly on the “verge of collapse” after the Indian government was angered by comments made by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman questioning action over visa overstayers from the country, a UK media report claimed on Wednesday.

    The Times’ newspaper quoted government sources to say that ministers in New Delhi were “shocked and disappointed “by the “disrespectful” remarks made by Braverman, who said she had concerns of an “open borders” offer to India as part of an FTA.

    The likelihood of meeting the Diwali deadline for the pact, set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is now believed to be diminishing.

    “There’s still a lot of goodwill but if certain individuals are still embedded in the [UK] government it will paralyse the talks,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

    Last week, Braverman, the Indian-origin Home Secretary said in an interview that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of visa overstayers.

    “I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” she told ‘The Spectator’ weekly news magazine.

    Asked about visa flexibility for students and entrepreneurs under an India-UK FTA, she said: “But I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country, the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”

    “We even reached an agreement with the Indian government last year to encourage and facilitate better cooperation in this regard. It has not necessarily worked very well.”

    Braverman was referencing the Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) clinched between her predecessor in the Home Office, Indian-origin former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar in May last year.

    The Indian High Commission here responded by pointing out that action had been initiated on all cases referred to it under the MMP.

    “Mobility has been the key Indian ask and everything else ” financial services, banking, education, rules of origin on whisky, etc, hinges on the mobility ask.

    And Suella has gone and pulled the rug from under that mobility ask, a senior UK government source told ‘The Times’.

    “They were apoplectic. Mad doesn’t even come close to describing how angry they are,” noted another.

    While the perception is that Braverman is on a collision course with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is keen to clinch the FTA by the Diwali deadline, the report indicates that both are aligned on the issue of migration.

    Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, met Truss at Downing Street on Tuesday evening after which he tweeted: “Delighted and honoured to greet the PM Liz Truss at the 10 Downing Street this evening and to seek her guidance to build the very special India-UK partnership in trade, investment, defence and through the Living Bridge.”

    Strategic experts on both sides are now of the view that if the Diwali deadline for the FTA is still met, the result would be a much less comprehensive deal than was expected, leaving key sectors open for future negotiations.

    UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch seemed to lay the groundwork for this last week, when she said that an FTA with India would not mean that “we can’t do even more later”.

    The Department for International Trade (DIT) reiterated the UK stance that it would not sacrifice quality for speed.”

    It said: “We have a close, positive working relationship with India and a thriving trade partnership worth GBP 24 billion in 2021. We continue to seek improvements to our current trading relationship. This is why we are negotiating a high-ambition free trade agreement.”

    “We remain clear that we won’t sacrifice quality for speed, and will only sign when we have a deal that meets both countries’ interests,” it added.

  • European Union, India set to restart trade talks

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  India and the European Union in Saturday’s summit will agree to resume negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement, sources in the European Union said. The talks will resume after a eight-year hiatus. “The FTA package will include an investment protection pact as well as a framework on geographical indication,” sources said.

    The negotiations for the FTA were first launched in 2007 but hit a hurdle subsequently in 2013 after the two sides could not agree on key issues like tariff, data security and market access. Sources also added that the two sides are likely to announce a connectivity partnership to enhance ties in the railway, maritime and aviation sectors.

    Trilateral meet

    India, France and Australia held their first in-person trilateral on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in London and said agreed that fair and equitable access to a safe and affordable Covid-19 vaccine is crucial.