 "FTA talks to continue even during polls: Commerce secy Sunil Barthwal")
India will continue the ongoing negotiations for free-trade agreements (FTAs) with countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and Oman even after the model code of conduct for the general elections kicks in from Saturday.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha election Saturday. Following the announcement, the model code of conduct will be enforced in the entire country until the announcement of results.
“Model code of conduct doesn’t restrain any ongoing projects. These are ongoing negotiations, these are not new negotiations. So (FTA) negotiations will continue at the same pace,” Sunil Barthwal, commerce secretary, told reporters.
When asked whether the government would sign an FTA when the model code of conduct is in force, Barthwal said “that call we will take when the time comes. That is not a concern at the moment. Negotiations are going on. At what point we are going to sign it, we will take that call at that point.”
On the ongoing FTA negotiations with the UK, Barthwal said both sides were “very actively” engaged in the negotiations. “Both sides are quite committed to the fact that there should be a commercially meaningful, fair, and equitable trade deal between the two countries. Sensitivities of both the countries should be respected as well as the strengths should be reflected in the trade deal. Negotiations are going on even today. It is a very (very) complex deal. Both the countries want an ambitious deal. We are waiting for negotiations to conclude,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak. “The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continue to strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic partnership. They assessed positively the progress made towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.
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India-UK FTA negotiations, launched in January 2022, have had 13 rounds of talks so far. “Chapterwise textual negotiations are nearly closed and schedules on goods and services are at an advanced stage of negotiations. Recently, the UK team visited India (March 5-7) for negotiations on outstanding issues. Teams have made good progress. Majority of difficult issues are towards resolution. A couple of key priority issues to seal the deal are being ironed out to have a balanced outcome,” the commerce department said in a presentation.
On the status of the FTA with Oman, Barthwal said it was pretty close. “Whenever we do these FTAs, we look into not only the trade issues but national interest and geo-strategic interest. This is an FTA which will be concluded very soon,” he said.
On the ongoing FTA negotiations with the European Union, the commerce department said during the seventh round of negotiations from February 16-27, both sides focused on important policy areas where there was divergence. “At the end of Round 7, there are gaps in our respective positions in many chapters, especially in some new policy areas such as sustainable development, ERM (Energy and Raw Materials), capital movements, etc. and also some traditional chapters such as IPR (intellectual property right), trade remedies, disputes settlement etc.
Both sides have agreed to meet inter-sessionally through virtual modes on many chapters, before the commencement of the 8th round, which is being planned in June 2024 in Brussels,” the secretary said.