India and Pakistan are 'keen to avoid further escalation'
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Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
India, UK sign FTA with aim to enhance bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030
Agencies London In a historic step, the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) was signed in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The trade deal which was agreed upon in May this year, was signed on Thursday during PM Modi's visit to the United Kingdom. The agreement has been finalised with an aim to enhance bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030, effectively doubling the current trade volume between both nations. The free trade agreement signed today will help in facilitating reduced tariffs on exports of labour-intensive goods including leather, footwear and clothing, whilst reducing import duties on British whisky and automobiles. The trade agreement was formalised with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in attendance, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and British counterpart Jonathan Reynolds signing the document. The agreement requires the British Parliament's endorsement before implementation, a process anticipated to take approximately one year, according to a PTI report. The agreement ensures that 99 percent of exports from India would receive duty-free access to British markets. On a braid basis tariffs on UK's exports to India will come down from 15 percent to 3 percent, implying cheaper goods available for Indians. Such bilateral trade arrangements typically involve both doing away with or substantially lowering customs duties on the majority of traded goods. Additionally, they aim to simplify regulations in order to encourage service trade and mutual investments. India's agricultural industry is positioned to benefit in a big way. India's global agricultural exports stand at $36.63 billion, whilst the UK's total agricultural imports are $37.52 billion. However, UK's imports from India are merely $811 million. The British market presents lucrative opportunities for specialised Indian agricultural products, including tea, mangoes, grapes, spices and seafood items, amongst others. The India-UK FTA has sections addressing different aspects of trade; this includes goods, services, innovation, government procurement, and intellectual property rights. The FTA's key provisions include halving import duties on UK-produced whisky and gin from 150 percent to 75 percent to begin with, followed by a further decrease to 40 percent within a decade. Additionally, tariffs on automobiles will see a big reduction from over 100 percent to 10 percent. This is subject to quota restrictions. The agreement also aims to facilitate market access and cost-effective trade for businesses and Indian consumers via reduced import duties on various products. These include cosmetics, aerospace components, lamb, medical equipment, salmon, electrical machinery, soft drinks, chocolate and biscuits. The agreement will create export prospects for domestic sectors that employ substantial workforce, encompassing textiles, marine products, leather goods, footwear, sports equipment and toys, gems and jewellery, engineering products, automotive components and engines, alongside organic chemicals. The services component of the trade deal will facilitate the movement of diverse professionals, including independent professionals—such as yoga instructors, musicians, and chefs—business visitors, investors, contractual service suppliers, intra-corporate transferees, as well as their partners and dependent children who are granted the right to work. India and the UK have also finalised discussions on the Double Contribution Convention Agreement, which is also known as the social security agreement. This arrangement would mean that Indian professionals working temporarily in Britain will not have to make duplicate payments towards social security funds.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
UK and India sign free trade agreement during Modi visit
The United Kingdom and India have signed a trade agreement that will reduce tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky, cars and spices and allow more market access for businesses. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the agreement on Thursday as a 'landmark moment' for both countries. Starmer hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Chequers country estate, northwest of London, where the UK and Indian trade ministers, Jonathan Reynolds and Piyush Goyal, formally signed the agreement. Starmer and Modi announced in May that they had struck a free trade agreement after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal in the shadow of tariff turmoil unleashed by United States President Donald Trump. The deal must still be ratified by the UK Parliament. 'This is not the extent or the limit of our collaboration with India,' said Starmer. 'We have unique bonds of history, of family and of culture, and we want to strengthen our relationship further, so that it is even more ambitious, modern and focused on the long term.' Starmer also said the deal was 'the biggest and most economically significant trade deal' the UK has made since leaving the European Union in 2020, though the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has forecast that UK exports and imports will be about 15 percent lower in the long run compared with if Brexit had not occurred. Modi, standing alongside Starmer during a media appearance, described the deal as a 'blueprint for our shared prosperity'. For India, the deal represents its biggest strategic partnership with an advanced economy, and one which could provide a template for a long-mooted deal with the EU as well as talks with other regions. The two countries also announced almost 6 billion pounds ($8nm) in trade and investment deals in areas including AI, aerospace and dairy products, and pledged to work more closely together in areas such as defence, migration, climate and health. The UK and India hope the accord will boost trade between the two countries by 25.5 billion pounds ($34.4bn) and eventually add 4.8 billion pounds ($6.5bn) a year to the UK economy. The UK government said the deal will reduce India's average tariff on British goods from 15 percent to 3 percent. Import taxes on whisky and gin will be halved from 150 percent to 75 percent before falling to 40 percent by year 10 of the deal. Automotive tariffs will fall from more than 100 percent to 10 percent under a quota. India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in May that 99 percent of Indian exports will face no import duty under the deal, which applies to products including clothes, shoes and food. Britain and India are the sixth and fifth largest global economies respectively, with a trade relationship worth about 41 billion pounds ($55.3bn) and investment supporting more than 600,000 jobs across both countries. During Modi's two-day visit, Starmer and the Indian prime minister were also likely to discuss last month's Air India disaster in which 241 people died when a London-bound flight crashed after taking off from Ahmedabad in western India. Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed in the June 12 crash, one of the deadliest plane disasters in terms of the number of British fatalities. Starmer and Modi have met twice recently, at the G7 summit in Canada last month and at the G20 meeting in Brazil last year. Modi was also due to meet with King Charles III during his brief stay in the UK, his fourth visit since becoming India's leader in 2014.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
UNRWA's 'ability to respond' to needs in Gaza depend on Israel
UNRWA's 'ability to respond' to needs in Gaza depend on Israel Quotable Sam Rose says UNRWA could replicate the effective aid delivery it achieved during Gaza's first ceasefire, if allowed. Sam Rose, acting director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, says if allowed by Israel, the UN agency could replicate the effective aid delivery it achieved during Gaza's first ceasefire. Video Duration 01 minutes 20 seconds 01:20 Video Duration 01 minutes 12 seconds 01:12 Video Duration 01 minutes 10 seconds 01:10 Video Duration 01 minutes 21 seconds 01:21 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 07 seconds 01:07 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39
