Reworking of proposed India-EU free trade agreement is dependent on the conditions of UK's withdrawal arrangement from the European Union, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.
She also informed the Rajya Sabha that the impact of the exit of the UK from EU on India is expected to be minimal.
"The need for India to rework the proposed FTA with the EU (minus UK)...And the timing of such recalibration are dependent on the terms and conditions of UK's withdrawal arrangement from the EU," Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In a separate question, she also said that the impact of the exit of the UK from EU on India is expected to be minimal.
India is well prepared to deal with the situation considering its sound macro-economic fundamentals, comfortable external position, commitment to fiscal discipline and declining inflation, she added.
Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and the EU have seen many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues like intellectual property rights, duty cut in automobile and spirits and liberal visa regime.
The bilateral trade between India and the UK stood at USD 14 billion in 2015-16 as against USD 14.33 billion in 2014-15.
India has received USD 23.10 billion FDI from Britain during April 2000 and March 2016.
