India-UK FTA More Than Just About Trade: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri

• Misri said the India-UK CETA goes beyond trade and technology and will affect mobility and people-to-people ties.

• The agreement is expected to boost annual bilateral trade from about 48 billion pounds.

• He also said India-EU FTA talks progressed and that India-France ties remain among India’s strongest bilateral partnerships.

The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) goes beyond just trade and technology to open many doors for the people in both countries, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Misri highlighted trade, technology, regional and international security as the key pillars of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit across a range of bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, both leaders announced July 15 as the date for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Partnership (CETA) to enter into force.

“The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which was signed last year in the presence of the two Prime Ministers in the UK, will enter into force from July 15. So, a major development so far as bilateral relations with a major trading partner are concerned," Misri said.

He went on to highlight that the impact of CETA, which is expected to significantly boost annual bilateral trade from the current annual estimate of 48 billion pounds, will be felt on the wider India-UK relationship.

“Now that a date for entry into force has been announced, I am sure that businesses on both sides have been gearing up for some time to get into this," he told PTI.

“The UK is one of our largest trading partners, an important technology partner. And this agreement is about more than just trade and technology. It speaks to mobility between the two countries as well. And I think it will open very important doors for people in both countries," he said.

The Foreign Secretary noted that businesses in both countries have been “quite eager” to have the agreement enter into force at an early date so that they can roll out their expansion and growth plans.

Trade talks with the European Union (EU) also progressed during this week’s visit, where Prime Minister Modi met jointly with both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. The conclusion of negotiations towards an India-EU FTA took place earlier this year in New Delhi, with an agreement expected before the end of this year.

“This is something that came up in their meeting in Evian on the sidelines of the G7 meetings, and they once again reaffirmed their desire and instructed the respective teams to do whatever was necessary to make this signing happen before the end of the year,” Misri told reporters.

Prime Minister Modi concluded his tour of France on Thursday evening with an address to the Indian community in Paris.

The foreign secretary characterised the Indo-French relationship as one of the “strongest bilateral relationships on the global scale”.

He said: “It is a relationship that is present in some of the most important areas of our national endeavour... defence area, the nuclear area and the space area. These are all areas in which there is a history of very close and fruitful collaboration between the two countries, and are also areas where there is active collaboration and discussions ongoing as we speak.

“Beyond that, I think there is a lot of alignment in I won't say every single view, but a lot of our views on the global scale. Certainly, in multilateral organisations and on a lot of regional issues, India and France have very, very similar approaches. And, finally, I would say France is a resident power in the Indo-Pacific, and that creates another very rich vein of possibilities for India and France to cooperate with each other." French President Emmanuel Macron posted a message in Hindi to “dear friend Narendra” on social media in farewell to the Prime Minister at the conclusion of his state visit.