New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) India and the UK on Monday announced resumption of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), which is expected to double or even triple bilateral trade from the current USD 20 billion in the next 10 years.

The announcement was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, who is here on an official visit.

Briefing reporters, Goyal made a case for faster and liberal issuance of visas for smooth movement of businessmen and professionals, besides a social security agreement to avoid double contribution to social security funds by Indian professionals working for limited period in Britain.

The 14th round of negotiations for the FTA, which began on January 10 last year, was underway till May 2024 when the process was paused by the UK side due to their elections.

The resumption of talks would aim to addressing issues which are yet not ironed out.

The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty.

On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, electric vehicles, lamb meat, chocolates and certain confectionary items.

Britain is also looking for more opportunities for UK services in Indian markets in segments like telecommunications, legal and financial services, including banking and insurance.

According to Goyal, both sides have the flexibility to significantly reduce tariffs to make their businesses more competitive.

"Many of the tariffs that India has are really to protect us from non-market and non-transparent economies or economies which are known for predatory pricing or dumping of goods, and I think between the UK and India, we have much more flexibility and ability to significantly reduce tariffs to make businesses more competitive between the two countries," he added.

The negotiations have started after a gap of over eight months due to elections. The talks are happening after the UK general elections that resulted into the Labour Party coming to power. The negotiations were launched on January 13, 2022.

Reynolds said that securing an FTA with India is a "top" priority for the British government.

In the joint media briefing, both the ministers did not give any deadline for conclusion of talks.

Goyal said it's never "too early" or "too late" to conclude a good agreement as these pacts are for a long-term future.

"One has to crystal gaze may be 20-30-50 years into the future and make a robust agreement which is a win-win for both sides and therefore neither should we rush into things, but it's always good to conclude fast. So we will have speed, but not haste," he added.

When asked about the potential benefit from the pact, he said the agreement will be "pathbreaking" and would provide huge opportunities to grow "our current USD 20 billion bilateral trade in merchandise to probably two or three times in the next 10 years".

Asked whether the negotiations for the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) would be concluded along with the FTA, Goyal said the two countries are actively negotiating at three different fronts - FTA, BIT, and a Double Contribution Convention Agrement.

"And all three are in parallel and conjoint with each other," he said.

Further, Goyal said that immigration has never been a part of trade negotiations anywhere in the word and India has "never ever" discussed immigration in any FTA negotiations.

Under the pact, he said, the two countries are opening up services in a "big way" and also opening up economies to attract more investments.

"We have also, as a part of FTA, opened up each other's services sector while protecting the sensitivities that each country has, so that, that can open up new opportunities and obviously for all of this, business visas will be required and they will be linked to investments, to the services that are going to be opened up," Goyal told reporters in the presence of Reynolds.

"So I don't see any difficulty in that. And I do think they are already quite open between the two countries. And if we both wish to expand our trade and investments, obviously we have to be faster and more liberal in our issuance of visa," he said.

Reynolds said that business mobility was a "separate issue" from immigration.

In recent years, India has signed such pacts with the US, Australia and European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Talks are also progressing with the 27-nation bloc European Union. The EU team is visiting India on February 28.

The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 21.34 billion in 2023-24 from USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23. Britain is the sixth largest investor in India. The country has received USD 35.3 billion FDI during April 2000 and September 2024.

The negotiations for the trade pact come at a time when the US President Donald Trump has announced imposing reciprocal tariffs on imported goods from America's all trade partners, including India. PTI RR CS HVA