There is no immediate indication on the impact of recent political developments in Britain on the advanced negotiations between India and the UK for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which aims to further strengthen ties between the countries, an official said.

On July 7, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party following an unprecedented mutiny within his cabinet and after being dumped by his close allies following a series of scandals that rocked his government, triggering a leadership election for a new Conservative leader who would become his successor.

In January, the two countries officially launched talks for a free trade agreement, which aims to boost bilateral trade and investment.

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In such pacts, two countries eliminate or drastically reduce customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, in addition to relaxing standards to promote investment and trade in services.

“The development in the UK has happened very recently… We have not received any indication as to the effect of a resignation on the ongoing FTA talks. Given that the Conservative Party will still be in government, we do not see any immediate problem nor have we heard of any reason that could affect the strong bilateral partnership between India and the UK,” said the responsible.

The official added that the talks are at an advanced stage and the two sides have agreed on many chapters of the proposed pact.

Getting a good, fair and equitable trade deal that would boost exports and create lots of jobs across India is the priority, the official said.

Asked about meeting the deadline for the conclusion of the talks, the official said: “The FTA negotiations are a very complex area and they involve a lot of careful assessments of the different elements of the FTAs ​​and we continue to do so seriously from both sides and we will do our best to meet these very difficult deadlines.

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In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then British counterpart Boris Johnson set a Diwali deadline for negotiating teams to conclude FTA talks. Diwali falls on October 24 this year.

The UK is also a key investor in India. New Delhi attracted foreign direct investment of $1.64 billion in 2021-22. The figure was around $32 billion between April 2000 and March 2022.

India’s major exports to the UK include ready-made garments and textiles, gemstones and jewellery, engineered goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment and parts, spices, metals, machinery and instruments, pharmaceuticals and marine products.

Major imports include precious and semi-precious stones, metal ores and scrap, engineering goods, professional instruments, non-ferrous metals, chemicals and machinery.

In the services sector, the UK is one of the largest markets in Europe for Indian IT services.