India–United Kingdom relations : Updates
- Thread starter Gautam
- Start date
The virus is the only negative impact thus far. Are you sure you want to invite Boris though? He has caught it before and recently been in quarantine.
Well, we need some entertainment on Republic Day & a BJ is as good as any. Plus I'm dead sure he'd raise the issue of the FTA. To your good fortune, we may sign one in the next 2 yrs. As always, whenever Britain is up shit creek w/o a paddle, India bails her out.
IDK why but a large number of pakistani diplomats and diaspora in Britain are sex offenders. Looks like they are well entrenched into UK’s sexual crime ecosystem.
The BMD vs anonymous battle is a reason to always check into this forum lol.
Thanks gents lol
Thanks gents lol
India and UK to finalise early harvest trade deals by 2021, ahead of comprehensive FTA
Post-Brexit, India and UK may finalise trade agreements in areas like pharmaceuticals, fintech, chemicals, defence manufacturing, petroleum and food products by 2021, as the two countries are keen on early harvest deals while continuing negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), two officials said.India and UK have a shared commitment towards a free trade agreement, but such negotiations are complex and could take longer. Meanwhile, the early harvest proposition will help the two partners grab the low-hanging fruits within the framework of a comprehensive trade agreement, they said requesting anonymity.
“The two sides are working on the finer details pertaining to about five-six sectors as some announcements are expected during UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s India visit in January 2021,” one of the officials said.
Johnson is the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebration on January 26, which is a significant development in terms of strategic relations between the two countries especially after Brexit, he said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Prime Minister Johnson on November 27, where the two leaders hoped for a quantum jump in overall India-UK partnership post-Brexit as they saw huge potential for enhancing collaborations in areas of trade, investment, scientific research, energy, defence, security and climate change,” a second official said.
The officials mentioned above said that while some key trade deals are expected by 2021, a comprehensive trade deal between India and UK is expected in two-three years.
“India is very cautious while signing any FTA because of its past experience. Various FTAs signed in hurry by the previous governments, particularly with the Asean, are under review as these deals are heavily tilted against Indian interests,” the second official said.
Co-chairing the 17th Asean-India Economic Ministers Consultations on August 29, commerce minister Piyush Goyal had said that FTAs had to be “mutually beneficial”. He had asked for an early review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) as the trade pact was hurting India’s interest, as HT reported on August 30.
According to officials, trade negotiations with UK are based on the principle of mutual benefit and arriving at an agreement is relatively easy because of the bilateral nature of negotiations. Negotiations of multilateral trade deals are cumbersome and time-consuming, they said.
Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co, said India should be careful of larger and long-term implications of FTAs. “The agreements [with UK] should clearly mention the aspects related to the country of origin of the goods and the percentage of value addition as these issues have been subject matter of debate,” he said.
“At the very inception, both the countries should have clear understanding with respect to bilateral investment treaty, which allows for an alternate dispute resolution outside the host state jurisdiction. The relevant clauses should not be legally open ended... [to encourage] investments in both jurisdictions,” he said.
Sanjay Aggarwal, president at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said this is the “right time” to move forward with an early harvest deal between India and UK. “India is always keen to move from a bilateral trade agreement to FTA... I believe, post Brexit, the complementarities between the two dynamic economies will rise exponentially,” he said.
“The areas such as drugs and pharma, fintech, chemicals, defence manufacturing, food and beverages, petroleum products and natural gas are the most growth promising areas of Indian economy and have strategic competitive advantages in the international market for trade and attracting investments,” he added.
The trade relations between the two countries have severely stagnated during the last decade, he said. “The bilateral merchandise trade between India and UK increased only from $11 billion during 2009-10 to around $16 billion during 2019-20. We have to scale up the volume to a trajectory with the exploration of untapped potential,” he said.
India’s main exports to the UK are articles of apparel and clothing accessories, power generating machinery and equipment, petroleum, petroleum products and related materials, miscellaneous manufactured articles, textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles, footwear, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, road vehicles and other transport equipment.
The main imports from the UK to India are power generating machinery and equipment, non-ferrous metals, ferrous ores and metal scrap, general industrial machinery and equipment and machine, transport equipment, beverages, electrical machinery and appliances and electrical parts, professional, scientific and controlling instruments and appliances, chemicals.
India, UK to finalise early harvest trade deals by 2021
According to officials, India’s trade negotiations with UK are based on the principle of mutual benefit and arriving at an agreement is relatively easy because of the bilateral nature of negotiations
Congratulations, Paddy. As it is India Inc is the largest source of investment & employment in UK. Now, we're bailing you out once more. Plus we're hosting BJ for the Republic Day. I think this certainly merits at least a public holiday to commemorate India for it's past present & future contributions to UK. Notice we aren't asking for any compensation or a knighthood for Modi here . A simple public holiday ought to suffice as a gesture of gratitude. @BMDIndia and UK to finalise early harvest trade deals by 2021, ahead of comprehensive FTA
Post-Brexit, India and UK may finalise trade agreements in areas like pharmaceuticals, fintech, chemicals, defence manufacturing, petroleum and food products by 2021, as the two countries are keen on early harvest deals while continuing negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), two officials said.
India and UK have a shared commitment towards a free trade agreement, but such negotiations are complex and could take longer. Meanwhile, the early harvest proposition will help the two partners grab the low-hanging fruits within the framework of a comprehensive trade agreement, they said requesting anonymity.
“The two sides are working on the finer details pertaining to about five-six sectors as some announcements are expected during UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s India visit in January 2021,” one of the officials said.
Johnson is the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebration on January 26, which is a significant development in terms of strategic relations between the two countries especially after Brexit, he said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Prime Minister Johnson on November 27, where the two leaders hoped for a quantum jump in overall India-UK partnership post-Brexit as they saw huge potential for enhancing collaborations in areas of trade, investment, scientific research, energy, defence, security and climate change,” a second official said.
The officials mentioned above said that while some key trade deals are expected by 2021, a comprehensive trade deal between India and UK is expected in two-three years.
“India is very cautious while signing any FTA because of its past experience. Various FTAs signed in hurry by the previous governments, particularly with the Asean, are under review as these deals are heavily tilted against Indian interests,” the second official said.
Co-chairing the 17th Asean-India Economic Ministers Consultations on August 29, commerce minister Piyush Goyal had said that FTAs had to be “mutually beneficial”. He had asked for an early review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) as the trade pact was hurting India’s interest, as HT reported on August 30.
According to officials, trade negotiations with UK are based on the principle of mutual benefit and arriving at an agreement is relatively easy because of the bilateral nature of negotiations. Negotiations of multilateral trade deals are cumbersome and time-consuming, they said.
Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co, said India should be careful of larger and long-term implications of FTAs. “The agreements [with UK] should clearly mention the aspects related to the country of origin of the goods and the percentage of value addition as these issues have been subject matter of debate,” he said.
“At the very inception, both the countries should have clear understanding with respect to bilateral investment treaty, which allows for an alternate dispute resolution outside the host state jurisdiction. The relevant clauses should not be legally open ended... [to encourage] investments in both jurisdictions,” he said.
Sanjay Aggarwal, president at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said this is the “right time” to move forward with an early harvest deal between India and UK. “India is always keen to move from a bilateral trade agreement to FTA... I believe, post Brexit, the complementarities between the two dynamic economies will rise exponentially,” he said.
“The areas such as drugs and pharma, fintech, chemicals, defence manufacturing, food and beverages, petroleum products and natural gas are the most growth promising areas of Indian economy and have strategic competitive advantages in the international market for trade and attracting investments,” he added.
The trade relations between the two countries have severely stagnated during the last decade, he said. “The bilateral merchandise trade between India and UK increased only from $11 billion during 2009-10 to around $16 billion during 2019-20. We have to scale up the volume to a trajectory with the exploration of untapped potential,” he said.
India’s main exports to the UK are articles of apparel and clothing accessories, power generating machinery and equipment, petroleum, petroleum products and related materials, miscellaneous manufactured articles, textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles, footwear, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, road vehicles and other transport equipment.
The main imports from the UK to India are power generating machinery and equipment, non-ferrous metals, ferrous ores and metal scrap, general industrial machinery and equipment and machine, transport equipment, beverages, electrical machinery and appliances and electrical parts, professional, scientific and controlling instruments and appliances, chemicals.
India, UK to finalise early harvest trade deals by 2021
According to officials, India’s trade negotiations with UK are based on the principle of mutual benefit and arriving at an agreement is relatively easy because of the bilateral nature of negotiationswww.hindustantimes.com
UK extradites drug syndicate kingpin Kishan Singh to India
In a significant development, Kishan Singh, accused of running an international drug cartel, has been extradited to India from London, sources told India Today.
Govt. to confirm nationality of illegal Indian immigrants in U.K.
New MoU specifies time limit for verification before they are sent back
UK, India in 'sweet spot' as trade negotiations begin, says Britain's trade minister
Both the minister and the Lord Mayor, William Russell, underlined the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson at their virtual summit in May as setting out an ambitious roadmap to at least double bilateral trade by 2030.
India, UK likely to announce ‘green grid’ at COP26 summit
India and the UK are likely to announce a joint declaration on “one sun, one world, one grid” — or OSOWOG, a concept New Delhi has been pushing through its International Solar Alliance — at the upcoming COP26.Both countries have been working towards achieving this concept, and the joint venture will be signed by energy ministers of the two nations in the presence of the two Prime Ministers, according to sources.
“We expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the conference. His UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, has personally invited the PM,” a source said.
The UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26, is scheduled to be held between October 31 and November 12 in Scotland.
The concept of OSOWOG, which the British have called a green grid, has been personally guided and pushed by Modi and found mention in his Independence Day speech this year. The concept pitches the idea of a transnational solar grid, from which different countries can draw power.
“While the declaration will be made by India and the UK, other countries will also participate, including the ASEAN nations, the US, EU and African nations, a source said. “The idea is to scale up the proposal and involve as many countries as possible. Our aim is that by 2050, a single power grid of renewable energy be accessible across continents — with production in one continent and distribution of power in another.”
The climate parliament secretariat is handling details of the proposal and more than 100 energy ministers from across the world will sign the proposal, the source said.
The government has been working on the concept of OSOWOG since 2015, engaging with other energy ministers. The idea was first floated by Modi in 2018 at the first meeting of International Solar Alliance, which will also take a lead on this venture. The climate secretariat will put a road map in place at COP26, on how to achieve this vision.
In June this year, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy came out with a request for proposal to hire consultants for converting this idea into a policy and its draft plan envisages connecting 140 countries through a common grid.
India, UK likely to announce ‘green grid’ at COP26 summit
Both countries have been working towards achieving this concept, and the joint venture will be signed by energy ministers of the two nations in the presence of the two Prime Ministers, according to sources.
indianexpress.com