Meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to work out the kinks in the India-UK FTA

 Meeting of the Committee of Secretaries to work out the kinks in the India-UK FTA

The committee of secretaries (CoS) for the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) convened on Thursday in preparation for the pact's finalization next month, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Discussions have centered on sensitive elements including intellectual property rights (IPR), rules of origin, and bilateral investment treaties (BIT) as the two nations go closer to signing the deal.

The two parties have switched to having weekly conversations at the time of the so-called committee of secretaries' meeting. The pact needs numerous layers of interministerial pledges, spanning from the finance ministry to the ministry of food processing, and New Delhi is working to smooth out the finer points.

Given that India is the world's top supplier of generic medications, IPR discussions are essential. 70–80% of the domestic market is made up of inexpensive generics, which are essential for the health of the aging Indian population. The UK is pursuing robust IPR protection as a global innovator in the life sciences. However, to keep prices down, its enormous state-run healthcare system also depends on generic medications made in India.

From $17.5 billion in 2021–2022, trade between the nations climbed to $20.36 billion in 2022–2023. Ready-made clothing and textiles, diamonds, jewelry, engineering products, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment, spices, machinery and instruments, medicines, and marine items are among India's top exports.

British exports include chemicals, machinery, ores and metal scraps, engineering products, non-electronic professional instruments, precious and semi-precious stones, and engineering items.

The UK is the biggest market in Europe for Indian IT services in the services industry. The UK is one of the leading investors in India in the sector of investment as well. Compared to 2021–2022, India got $1.74 billion in foreign direct investment from the UK in 2022–2031.

Investments totaled $33.9 billion from April 2000 to March 2023. Such agreements ease regulations to encourage the trade in services and investments while also reducing or eliminating customs tariffs on a variety of items that are exchanged between two trading partners.