India, UK finance ministers agree to make further progress on FTA

India and the UK have agreed to make further progress on the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) and also to swiftly organise the next bilateral Economic and Financial Dialogue soon, the British government has said.

India has recently concluded the seventh round of talks with the UK.

At the conclusion of UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s India visit for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, held under India’s 2023 Presidency, the UK’s Treasury department said the finance minister held talks with Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman with a focus on deepening bilateral economic and financial ties.

“At a meeting with Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman, both sides agreed to make further progress on the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and deepen bilateral economic and financial ties,” the Treasury department said in a statement on Saturday.

“They agreed to make swift progress on setting up the next UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue,” it said.

Hunt, on his first international visit as UK Chancellor, also met with business leaders in Bengaluru and visited the offices of tech multinational Wipro which employs over 4,000 people in the UK.

Source: SiasatDaily