India and the UK are not working under any deadline for the conclusion of negotiations for a free trade agreement as both sides are discussing issues that are “slightly” complex in nature, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the two countries are working to finalise the issues as early as possible.
“We are not working (under) any deadlines...because there are issues which are of slightly complex in nature and which have economic significance for both the countries,” he told reporters here.
“So we are looking at those issues much more carefully...so there is no deadline as such, we are working under timelines,” he added.
Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry and India’s chief negotiator for the free trade agreement, Nidhi Mani Tripathi, said that the two sides continue to discuss the “outstanding issues” which remained
unresolved.
“At all levels, there have been continuous exchanges to iron out differences and we intend to close as many as issues quickly,” she said.
So far 13 rounds of talks have been completed.