India-UK trade deal on the anvil

By Mahua Venkatesh New Delhi, Jan 1 : India is set to look at a bilateral trade deal with the UK as the latter quit the European Union single market on Thursday. Sources said that talks on a possible trade deal is already under discussion and could be thrashed out at the earliest. The UK left the EU officially on January 31.
“India needs to move fast if it has to gain from the growing anti-China sentiment. Other countries like Vietnam are moving fast on such trade deals. New Delhi should ensure that it does not miss out on an opportunity,” an analyst said.
Analysts said that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s slated visit to India will also be critical to take the trade talks forward.
Vietnam and Singapore have just signed a free trade agreement with the UK, which has been looking at bilateral trade and economy agreements with several countries to prepare for the Brexit era. Vietnam is emerging as a strong competitor to many other economies in trade related issues.
Even as the FTA talks with EU have been stalled since 2013 after differences on various issues could not be ironed out, sources said that thrashing out a bilateral deal with UK will be simpler and needs to be taken up on priority. India is also keen to revive talks for a possible trade pact with EU and the US.
“India must ink a bilateral trade agreement at the earliest especially as many other countries including Vietnam have already inked deals with Britain to boost trade. Thrashing out a bilateral trade deal will be easier for India compared to one with EU as the complexities will be less,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations director general and CEO Ajay Sahai told IndiaNarrative.com.