Hope to make progress on proposed India, UK trade pact after new British govt takes charge: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday expressed hope to make progress on the talks in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK after the new British government takes charge.

The UK's general election will be held on July 4.

"With the UK, irrespective of the election results we hope to make progress after the new government comes in," Goyal told reporters here.

He said that if the current UK government comes to power, they are already "very deeply" committed to the FTA.

The ministry had discussions with the shadow trade and foreign ministers of the Labour Party and they are also equally interested to pursue the agreement expeditiously, he said.

India and the UK launched talks for an FTA in January 2022 to boost economic ties between the two nations.

There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights.

The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 21.34 billion in 2023-24 from 20.36 billion in 2022-23.

On the India-EU trade pact, Goyal said that the eighth round of talks concluded on June 28 in Brussels.

He added that both the EU and India are committed to the pact.

"So I am confident that we will make fast progress," he said.