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Issues related to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and bilateral investment treaty between India and the UK are expected to figure during the three-day visit of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to London from April 8-10, official sources said.
The minister will attend a host of meetings, including the India-United Kingdom Economic and Financial Dialogue, in London.
As reported by PTI, Sitharaman is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and other British ministers.
Issues pertaining to the trade agreement and bilateral investment treaty (BIT) may also come up for discussions between the two,” the official said.
Though negotiations for a free trade agreement fall under the domain of the Union Commerce Ministry, issues like the investment treaty and norms related to financial services come under the Finance Ministry.
In the proposed trade pact between New Delhi and London, these issues are still not resolved.
On February 24, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds announced the resumption of negotiations for the proposed FTA between the two countries.
The India-UK negotiations are resuming after a gap of over eight months.
The talks were launched on January 13, 2022. So far, 14 rounds of talks have been completed.
