India, UK discuss draft trade pact text, next round of talks in July

India and the UK concluded the tenth round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) last week, and the next round of negotiations is due to take place in the coming month, the government said on Monday.

Technical discussions were held across 10 policy areas in over 50 separate sessions and detailed draft treaty text discussions took place in these areas.

“On June 9, India and the United Kingdom concluded the tenth round of talks for an India-UK FTA,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.


The negotiations for the agreement were launched on January 13, 2021.

The talks included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas, it said, adding, that the eleventh round of negotiations is due to take place in the coming month.

The bilateral trade between the countries has increased to $20.36 billion in FY23 from $17.5 billion in FY22.

India’s main exports to the UK are ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, while key imports include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, and engineering goods.