India-UK FTA: UKIBC chief Mccole hopeful of signing some deal quickly

Highlighting the ongoing talks on the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Kevin Mccole, Managing Director of the UK-India Business Council, said that they are hopeful that some deal could be done quickly and then built upon while moving forward.

He noted that in the Labour Party's manifesto, they restated their commitment to conclude negotiations on the FTA.

"It is important that in the Labour Party's manifesto going into the general election, they restated their commitment to concluding negotiations on the FTA, ratifying it and then implementing it, making it a real success," Mccole told ANI.

Reiterating the UK Foreign Secretary's statement, he noted that David Lammy sees FTA as a "floor" for both countries' trade and investment relationship, and not a "ceiling".

"And one of the things David Lammy says he sees the FTA as a floor for the UK-India trade and investment relationship, not a ceiling," he told ANI.

"So we're hopeful that some deal could be done quickly and then built upon as we move forward," Mccole added.

However, he said that people should not expect negotiations to conclude very quickly, as the Labour government came to power only recently.

"I think people shouldn't expect negotiations to start and conclude very quickly. The Labour government came to power just three weeks ago and they've got a big agenda to achieve," he said.

He said that it's right for them to take time, look at where negotiations have already got, make sure they're comfortable and then bring it over the line.

"We understand that the deal is 95 per cent to 99 per cent already done, but I think as a new government comes in, they need to make sure that that works for them as well. So we're hopeful that in the coming months, negotiations can resume and conclude," he said.

Mccole said that the UK and India are both knowledge-led economies, so doing R & D, innovating, and creating new technologies is vital.

"We at UK India Business Council (UKIBC) are particularly pleased to see that," he said.

He underscored that they had published a manifesto ahead of the UK general election and there were five themes, one of which was to enhance the R & D partnership between the UK and India.

"And there's already great work going on, but there's so much opportunity to do so much more. And this is business-to-business R & D. There's university and university R & D going on, British institutions, Indian institutions, and there are also some leading UK institutions, academic institutions working with Indian corporations, and they're working on a range of issues that I think will benefit the UK and India but actually have a global impact," he said.

Moreover, he said that they are also working on subjects covering food security, including agritech, food security, climate change, and energy transition, as well as critical areas of healthcare.

"So the UK and India working together on R & D not just benefit both countries, but actually be a force for global good," he said.

The visit of the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary David Lammy gives a "loud and clear" signal that the newly elected government wants to strengthen the partnership between the two nations, said UK India Business Council on Thursday.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday morning arrived in the national capital as the UK is set to see the newly-elected Labour government taking power.

The council further stated that the UK government has shown renewed positive sentiment towards India. The Labour Party Manifesto had pledged to pursue a "new strategic partnership" with India, deepening cooperation on security, technology, climate change, and education, the council added.

Source: Business Standard