New Delhi: India and the United Kingdom are working to deepen bilateral ties, and ‘continuing negotiations at pace’ towards a Free Trade Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty creating new opportunities for across both economies, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“Both sides agree that a strong and robust UK-India relationship enhances the resilience of both economies, including through trade, macroeconomic cooperation, supply chain resilience and collaboration on global challenges, both bilaterally and multilaterally,” the statement said.
“We will continue to work together to address global challenges and support the rules-based international system,” it added.
The statement comes during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s six-day visit to the UK and Austria, where she co-chaired the 13th India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in London alongside her counterpart, chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves on Wednesday.
The visit comes at a time of heightened global trade uncertainty following the reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
India is seeking to strengthen partnerships and attract investment to navigate potential disruptions from shifting trade policies.
To be sure, during 2023-24, merchandise exports to the UK stood at $12.98 billion in value terms, up 13.3% annually, while goods exports stood at $8.4 billion, down 6.10% yearly, according to the data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Resumed negotiations
India and the UK have resumed negotiations for an FTA after an eight-month pause in February.
Challenges include the UK’s planned rollout of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from January 2026, which could create an uneven playing field in the proposed FTA with India, as well as issues around mobility for professionals.
“The UK side was pleased to update on its forthcoming Industrial Strategy, where the partnership can support the Industrial Strategy’s priority growth-driving sectors, such as advanced manufacturing and life sciences, where UK expertise and research capability can complement India’s emerging role as a global manufacturing hub, as well as in clean energy, professional and business services, financial services, the creative industries, and defence to support jobs and economic growth,” the statement said.
“Both sides look forward to the signing of the India-UK Defence Industrial Roadmap to strengthen ties between industrial sectors and support supply chains,” it added.
Both sides also lauded their G20 collaboration and pledged to jointly address global macroeconomic risks while advancing shared goals for inclusive and sustainable growth across multilateral platforms.
“We agree on the importance of continued engagement at the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to bolster global financial stability, address systemic risks, and ensure a resilient, inclusive, and stable international financial system including through implementation of agreed international reforms and standards,” the statement said.
“We support the ongoing work on enhancing cross-border payments, addressing climate-related financial risks and enhancing the resilience of nonbank financial intermediation (NBFI) from a systemic perspective, including the work programme to address non-bank data availability, use, and quality, and the work addressing risks from NBFI leverage,” it added.
