techUK joins other UK trade organisations to urge the Government to hold out for a comprehensive UK-India deal

The UK-India FTA talks began in January this year. The fifth round of negotiations was finalised last week, and both countries are working towards the October 24 deadline that Prime Ministers Johnson and Modi set a few months ago. The October deadline raises concerns over how ambitious FTA with India we can achieve and whether quality will not be comprised over speed of negotiations.

The UK – India trade deal would be amongst the most important for the tech sector since Brexit. That’s why it’s so important that the outcome is as ambitious as possible and delivers on the Government’s commitment for the UK to be a leader in digital trade. We also believe this is once in- a -lifetime opportunity to deepen the bilateral tech partnership, advance an ambitious trade agenda and negotiate a comprehensive digital trade chapter in the UK-India FTA. You can read key asks of our industry we’ve been advocating for here.

As negotiations continue towards an ambitious free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and India, techUK joins other UK trade organisations to urge the Government and its negotiators to hold out for a commercially meaningful and comprehensive deal, even if doing so means that the self-imposed deadline of Diwali is not met. It is the content of the deal which matters for UK businesses, not speed of negotiation.

techUK is committed to continuing to provide the UK Government with every support to see these negotiations concluded.

The full industry letter is attached below.

Letter to DIT SoS UK-India FTA - Copy.pdf

You can catch up with all our insights on the UK-India Tech Hub.